


Were is that Human?

by Pokey



Series: The New Wolfrisk Movies [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: A bit of funny here n there, A bit of graphic violence in chapter 7, A lack of action, Angst, Body Horror, Chapters get longer after Chapter 3, Character Development, Fluff, Frisk gets sicky-poo, Honestly i can't believe i didn't add them earlier, In case you forget, Me hoping i portray the characters accurately, See what happens when you form attachments, The kid being a worrywart crybaby on occasion, The quality of writing fluctuates constantly, Were-Creatures, Werewolf frisk is still a total darling, Wolfrisk's fur is black, You know the drill it's an Undertale fanfic ffs, because I'm not that great at writing stuff that isn't character interaction, charisk, i guess, just warning you now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-11-14 12:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 38,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11208168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokey/pseuds/Pokey
Summary: Frisk has the misfortune of being considered a monster by humans, and a human by monsters.An AU that features a Wolfrisk, who has to journey through the Underground during the last night of a full moon.(Edit: I feel I should mention this was my first completed fic on AO3, so that's why the story is initially kind of... mediocre. It gets better after the second chapter.)There is an askblog now, if anyone is interested. Tumblr username is "thenewwolfriskmovies"





	1. Meeting the Kid

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you'd like to see more of this story. The story can be left here and still be satisfying, though, I think. 
> 
> (In case you're wondering, they'd be Wolfrisk for most of the journey, because of how short the game is, and a lot fewer monsters would be able to recognize them as being human).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The transformation has been updated to match up with later Wolfrisk excursions.

Chara awakens in a bed of golden flowers. They recognize them, but that doesn't concern them right now. They're busy trying to figure out why they're not dead. Their plan had failed, so why...?

They take a look around. Over to their right is a human child, lying face down, whose clothing consists of elastic shorts and a sweater that's a few sizes too large. Chara stops to wonder why their new host isn't wearing any shoes, given the mountain's rocky path, when they hear the child start sniffling. Seems they're awake now.

Chara approaches them, and lowers themselves down to the ground, tilting their head down to catch the kid's attention. They look pretty young, and Chara kind of doubts that 'you, human, please die' is an appropriate greeting, so they decide to take pity on them.

"Hey, kid. Uh... stop crying, please... Can you do that for me?"

The child gives a sharp gasp, bolting upright, revealing their tanned skin. Yeah, that's a _ghost_ trying to comfort them. (Ha, ha. Among your own kind, at last.)

The kid wipes their eyes with their sleeve before looking up at the apparition. "You wanna start moving, now? I'm sure somebody will be around to fix whatever injuries you've sustained." That's how it was for them, anyway.

At this, the kid nods with a grim determination before climbing to their feet, and begins to amble forward, past the twilit clearing and into another cavern. Before them is a newcomer.

"Hi! I'm Flowey. Flowey the Flower!" A talking flower? This is new.

Interesting; the kid snarls a bit, but quickly grimaces, likely at whatever sound they made, thereafter. "Hmm...you're new to the underground, aren'tcha?" The kid fiddles with their fingers a bit as they warily approach, their apprehension immediately visible. "I'll show ya how things work down here." The kid raises an eyebrow as the flower sticks it tongue out with a wink of the eye.

"That's your SOUL. The very culmination of your being! It starts out weak, but can become strong if you gain a lot of LV. What's that stand for? Why, LOVE, of course! You want some LOVE, don'tcha? Don't worry, I'll share some with ya! Are you ready?" The kid narrows their eyes. Well, narrows them further. Bad eyesight?

"I don't trust you. You're bad an' you wanna hurt me. I can smell it." The kid says to the flower, who raises it's eyebrows for the short moment before it regains it's composure.

"What are you talking about? I was only gonna share some Friendliness pellets with you!" The flower winks again, but it's remaining open eye betrays the flower's newfound wariness of the kid.

"I don't like you. I don't wan' your 'fend-li-ness pelts'" The kid says.

"Friendliness pellets," Chara quietly offers from behind them as the kid begins to walk around the flower, towards the only other doorway in the twilit cave. The flower burrows underground before reappearing in front of them. The kid growls and bares their teeth at it. "Hold on, kid. Let's see where this goes," Chara says to them.

"Where do you think you're going, Smiles?" The very aggravated flower says to them before summoning a circlet of bullets around the kid.

"DIE," it says in a gravelly voice, before laughing maniacally, the bullets drawing ever closer to the kid.

A fireball appears and knocks the flower away, and their source, an 8-foot goat appears shortly afterwards.

"What a terrible creature, terrorizing such a poor, innocent youth." She says, and Chara suddenly looks relieved.

\----

The kid flinches a bit initially, when Toriel ruffles their hair, but then leans into her touch like it's the first bit of affection they've had in quite a while. Interesting.

Toriel pauses. "Is something burning? Uh, make yourself at home!" She says before scampering off.

The kid enters the room, and looks around a bit before spotting a much-appreciated bed. They practically run over to the bed, and are asleep within minutes. Eventually, Toriel comes in with a bit of pie, and turns out the light. Chara watches her as she exits.

Chara uses the next hour to think; sometimes it's about the kid. Their behavior, their choice of clothing, lack of shoes, being able to SMELL that flower's bad intentions.

Their thoughts are interrupted by a sudden groan from the kid. Chara turns to see they've curled up in a ball, and are currently trembling. The kid throws back the covers most of the way, exposing their callus feet. Chara notes their apparent feverish state.

They roll onto their other side, their breath becoming increasing shallow. They arch their back a bit and let out a sharp "ah!" before curling up even further inward, their shallow breaths becoming more like moans on the exhale. They roll onto their stomach, gripping the pillow with both hands.

The kid gives a muffled cry. Their left hand has a short convulsion, and quiet, popping sounds can be heard as it's fingers begin to lengthen. The kid gives a quiet sob, their right hand gripping the pillow even harder. At this, Chara's observations come to a point: they'd probably grow into that sweater.

They're curled up in such a way that partially has them on their knees when their torso begins to enlarge, the bones making sickening cracks and various pops throughout. The kid is crying now, punctuated by loud yelps of pain for the particularly nasty sounding ones. Their chest must hurt like crazy if they haven't noticed the protrusion at the base of their spine. It's coming in very smoothly, compared to the other changes, Chara thinks to themself.

The kid curls forward further, trying to wipe their nose with their arm; their head is beneath their sternum now, pressing their tear-stained cheek against the sheet. Their tail has finished coming in, now--it sticks up in the air like a real wolf's would. Their feet have very sharp-looking toenails now, and the child's legs begin to make sharp cracking sounds as their feet gain an extra point of articulation, slowly turning into an animal's haunches. Their legs and hands -- the parts of their body that are currently visible -- are covered in a thin layer of curly hairs, now, but for the moment the skin is still showing underneath.

Their shallow breathing deteriorates into gasping for breath, broken up by screaming as their chest expands outward in small bursts of growth, and as their hands and feet continue to bulge outward, as is the case with their muscles, the hairs on their body become thicker, and continue to grow, blooming into a thick layer of rich, black, fluffy fur.

The kid suddenly lifts their head, keeping it from coming into contact with the bed, like their face'll get smashed if they do. They look up at Chara, briefly, giving a look of knowing, their sharp teeth bared in a fearful grimace -- sideburns have begun to encroach in on their chubby cheeks. They suddenly cry out, and quickly bring their paws up to their mouth as the lower half of their face grows outward in a series of short increments, each accompanied by a small pop and an increase of fur on their face. It's silver, mostly, accentuating the face, but there's some black around where their face met their unkempt haircut, which has now changed from a rich, healthy brown-black hue, to an oily, dark brown-grey color. Their nose looks all leathery; like a dog's, now, Chara notes.

The kid lays there, quietly sobbing for a bit longer, and after a few minutes their breathing starts to calm down. After all is said and done, the behemoth lifts their hand to their forehead, giving a slightly hysterical couple of laughs as they look down and notice that their legs are hanging off the bed by a few inches now. The kid's quite a far cry from the three foot tyke Chara met just a few hours before -- they must be what, almost five feet, now?

"I guess my shorts are short-shorts, now, huh?" They say, glancing back up at the still-watching Chara, who smiles in kind. "Ugh...how is Toriel gonna take it, though?" They say shortly before rolling off the bed and landing on the floor (moving the pie slice out of the way, first) with a loud thud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The best part is how unfeeling Chara is to the whole situation; THEY'RE TAKING NOTES ON THE CHANGES IN THE CHILD AS THEY WRITHE IN AGONY.
> 
> PS: the interactions with most monsters in the Ruin would've been the same as in a pacifist run of the game, but with Frisk being able to smell whether or not the enemy legitimately wanted to kill them, in addition to not wanting to fight back.


	2. Leaving the Ruins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel takes the changes in her child rather well for someone who's never seen anything like it before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohh man, we're doin' this again! I'm glad people liked the first part, because I enjoyed writing it. So, in celebration of this (and 100 reads! :-D), here's a second chapter! I hope you all like reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The kid shuts the door behind them, emerging from the bedroom into the hallway, and spots Toriel sitting in a plush easy chair, in front of the fireplace. Chara idly floats after the kid as they nervously walk into the den, watching them fiddle with their fingers as they cross the threshold. There really was nothing they could do to keep her from finding out, save for prolonging the inevitable, so they may as well just get it over with.

Toriel looks up from her book to see this creature that was twice the size of, and covered in way more hair than, 'her child'. They're quite tall, quite possibly lupine in nature. However, she could tell right away who they were: still her child.

"Hello, my child. Did you sleep well?"

Chara raises their eyebrows slightly. This young ghost, for one, was kind of surprised by this reaction (or lack thereof).

"...That's it? You aren't gonna call me 'demon', or 'child eater', or somethin' like that?" The kid was surprised by this too, apparently, if their eyes being open all the way for once is anything to go off of.

"I do not see why I should. Do you plan on eating any children?"

"No."

"Alright, then." After a moment, she holds her palm out to the kid as a gesture of reassurance.

The kid cautiously walks over to the goat mother, carefully gets on their knees, and rests their head on her lap. A shaky sigh soon follows.

She starts stroking their hair as they hug her legs, beginning to weep. "There you are, you are perfectly fine."

"You-you're the fi-irst person to ever keep treating me nice ee-even after you find out." They say, hugging her legs a little tighter. She gives them a look of sympathy and continues to stroke them for a few minutes, before the kid gets back on their feet. They remember what they'd learned from their journey through the Ruins, that everyone is trapped down here, which they thought was pretty sad. However, this new caretaker marks the first time the... reception has gone well. M...maybe they can actually comfortably refer to someone as...

"I wanna, I'm gonna set you all free... M-mama." They sniff, wiping their muzzle with their sleeve before moving their arm to grasp the other just above the elbow. Their ghost friend gave them some info on the way to Toriel's house on what was beyond this place, and just now, they've decided that they are gonna be the one to save the day. "I'm really strong, so I'll be okay. I'm gonna help. I wanna help you guys see the moon, an' the stars. They're so pretty." Toriel raises her eyebrows at being called 'mama' for a brief moment before settling into a kind smile.

"How could anyone treat a child, especially one with a heart this kind, so poorly?" They lower their head into their sweater collar with a watery smile and look off to the side.

Toriel rises from the chair, and the kid follows her out of the den.

As they walk toward the stairs, she glances behind her, looking down at the kid. "I have no doubts that your physical strength has increased considerably after the change, like you claim. So... I will show you the way out of the Ruins, though it pains me so." She gives a sad chuckle before facing forward again.

\---

As the two approach the gateway out of the ruins, Toriel speaks up again. "Every child that has passed through before now has met their end. However, I believe you are much better equipped than I feel the others were, especially if what you've said is true." She turns to face them once they make it to the door.

"Goodbye, my child. Please stay safe, for me." She hugs the kid, only needing to bend down a bit. They pause for a moment before returning the gesture. "Ha, ha. I usually have to get down on my knees for this sort of thing." She leans back to look at them, cupping their face, before walking past them.

The kid watches her go.

"Are you ready?" Chara asks them. They shake their head. "Me either."

Chara grins.

"Let's go."

\---

The kid closes the door behind them, and turns to find themselves in another, dimly lit, open cave. They furrow their eyebrows, sniffing the air. Chara gives them a confused look before they point ahead with a grimace. Chara turns to see that flower spring from the ground again.

"Verry clever. You spared the life of one--woah, hold on!" The kid lunges for the flower's stupid face, but he ducks back underground, causing them to nearly fall over. He springs back up ahead of them. "Temper, temper, Smiles. Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves?" He leans up at them with a smug look. They look down their snout at him, body tensed up in their anger.

"I hate you." They say.

"That's nice." He replies without missing a beat. "'Like the fur coat. Fits a mangy dog like you."

They give a half-hearted kick at him, scraping up a cloud of dirt, and smile a bit when he coughs.

"Anyways, when you inevitably die, I'll inherit your power. I am the prince of this world's future! _Eeyeeheahaahaa_ \--" The kid steps over him. "Haha-hah? Hey, get back here!" He yells after them.

"I can't hear you, I'm too far away and also not caring." They call back from the hallway beyond the cave.

\---

The exit to the ruins was a huge purple door with a strange symbol on it. The kid studies it for a moment. They give a lazy shrug, and begin to push against the door.

A rush of cold air greets them when it cracks open, and that gives them the extra determination to push the door the rest of the way. They turn around and begin to push against it with their back; their feet scratch up the floor as the scramble against it, but they manage to get it open. They begin to slide downward as the door picks up momentum, and they're too late in catching themselves. They land flat on their back, in a snow drift off the main path, with a soft "oof!" Chara chuckles as they sputter, spitting out pieces of snow from a deposit that apparently filled this ditch they fell into, their legs and muzzle being the only things visible from the angle Chara was viewing them from.

They flip over, and turn their body around to they can take in their new surroundings, propping themselves up on their left elbow to brush the snow out of their fur. From here, one could see a long, sodden path, as well as snowy fields and evergreen trees for what seemed like miles in any direction.

This should be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments. 
> 
> PS: Once I get my hands on a drawing tablet, I may come back and add some illustrations, assuming I can figure out how to add them into the body text.


	3. Facing the Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kid meets the lawful neutral skeleton and the chaotic good skeleton.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very glad to see people interested in this story. If things stay on the same pace they are now, there'll probably be two or three more chapters for Snowdin.
> 
> Edit: thought it was too short; made it longer.

The kid scrambles out of the snowy ditch and rises to their feet. They walk back to the path and look straight ahead. Somewhere ahead is what appears to be a bridge, running under a wooden... fence? Gate?

They begin to walk, and promptly stumble over something; they look behind them to see that there's a huge stick in the path. They turn back around, and begin walking again.

The only things that can be heard are the air (they _know_  it's cold if they can _hear_ the temperature), and the crunching of snow underfoot. The atmosphere would be kind of nice if they knew nobody was watching them. It's better to let them think they aren't aware of their presence.

Chara gives a small yelp of surprise when they hear a loud cracking sound; they turn to see that the huge stick has been smashed clean through the middle. They look back over their shoulder to see the kid hasn't even flinched. Impressive...?

They finally make it to the bridge when a second pair of footsteps joins them.

"H u m a n ." A mystery voice says from behind them.

Chara looks a bit spooked, but looking at the kid, Chara wouldn't be able to tell if they were even _aware_ of the new arrival, if it weren't for them stopping. "D o n ' t  y o u  k n o w  h o w  t o  g r e e t  a  n e w  p a l ?

"T u r n  a r o u n d  a n d  s h a k e  m y  h a n d ," the voice says.

"Look mister, you don't scare me. I can smell that you don't want to hurt me or anything." They pause. "...You're trying to play a trick on me, aren't you." They mutter, not even turning to face the newcomer.

"well gee, i thought it was pretty spooky." The stranger's voice has shifted to a deep drawl. The kid turns to face him, finally.

That's a skeleton.

"guess i need to practice some more in the mirror." He adds with a wink. "anyway, uh...you are human, right? a little skele-bird told me that a human would be comin' through the doors, and, uh... tibia-nest, you're lookin' a bit hairy.

"oh, heh, whoops, 'forgot to introduce myself; name's sans. sans the skeleton." He looks up at them with a perpetual grin on his face. He's actually pretty short.

"Yeahh, I'm human..." The kid says, kicking the ground, head down, but still looking at him.

"sound like a kid. look like it, too, what with the striped shirt, and all, but, whatever; not my business to pry.

"let's go ahead and move up, i think i can see my brother papyrus approaching. go on through the gate; m' bro made the bars too wide to stop anybody." The kid looks off to the side for a second before looking back to see the little skeleton walking through the space between their legs. They turn around, and begin to follow.

Sans stops to look up at them once they reach a clearing, where a small sentry station can be seen. "uh, normally, i'd tell you to hide behind that conveniently shaped lamp over there, only, uh, it's not so conveniently shaped anymore." He pulls a mitten from his pocket, and points a thumb at a human-shaped lamp.

"SANS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, CHATTING WITH THIS PERSON I HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE?" A booming voice calls, shortly before the taller skeleton it belongs to appears.

"just act casual." Sans mutters to them before turning to face this new arrival. "s'up, bro; just makin' casual conversation with the human here. oh, oops." He does not look sorry at all.

"WOWIE, A HUMAN!... I HAD NO IDEA THEY WERE SO HAIRY AND WOLFISH!" He walks up to the kid and stops to look them over.

The skeleton has about a foot on them, but the sheer presence he exudes was enough to make him seem much taller. (That, and six feet isn't really short for a skeleton, if Sans is anything to go on.)

"VERY WELL." He awkwardly steps back a few feet (Sans whispers "get ready. i think he's been practicing" to the kid) and strikes a pose. "HUMAN. YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU. YOU WILL BE CAPTURED, AND SENT TO THE CAPITAL, AND THEN! THEN...WELL, I'M NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. HOWEVER! MY BROTHER AND I HAVE PREPARED PUZZLES IN PREPARATION FOR AN EVENT SUCH AS THIS. PREPARE TO BE CONFOUNDED! CONFUZZLED! AND THOROUGHLY JAPED! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!" He laughs, sprinting away.

The kid takes this moment to be very unhappy with Sans. Got ratted out, for one, but that's hardly all.

"What's gonna happen, now? Was mama wrong?" For believing they were right, granted, but they'd never admit to it. "Am I gonna die out here?" They bend down, giving Sans a pleading look.

"jeez, kid, you're pulling at my nonexistent heartstrings. you'll be fine. papyrus couldn't hurt anyone even if he tried... his heart's just not in it." He winks up at them. "you'd best be goin', though. he might come back, and if he does...you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes."

"Okay..." They scrape the ground with their claws, and fiddle with their fingers as they reluctantly start to walk away from the clearing, in the same direction Papyrus had ran.

They shivered, but Chara wasn't sure if it was from the cold.

\---

The kid continued on a ways, eventually finding another guard station. They could smell something that had been burnt recently, and something else, too...something doggish. They took another step forward, when suddenly,

"Did I hear something move? I can only see moving things. If something WAS moving, like, say, a human, I'll make sure it NEVER moves again!" Yeesh, that's a bit much.

The kid recognizes the familiar sensation of feeling their soul getting drawn out of their chest; tingly, but not particularly unpleasant.

"Don't move an INCH!" Doggo says.

The kid decides not to move an inch.

A blue dagger appears, and comes straight for them. Despite Chara's frantic protesting, the kid stays stock still. The dagger passes through them harmlessly, and they promptly reach over and skritch Doggo's chin.

"What! I've been pet!" Doggo begins to sink back into his station. "I'm gonna need some dog treats for this!"

\---

The kid passes into the next area, and spots Sans by a street lamp. They change the direction they're walking in, and pace up to him. He looks up with a lazy wink, and begins to speak.

"heya. ever heard of blue attacks? my brother has 'em.

"they have a secret to 'em, y'know. when they come to hit ya, just stop. picture a stop sign. when you see a red stop sign, you stop, right? so just picture a blue stop sign instead."

The kid shifts from foot to foot, taking in the info with a nod, but Chara is clearly frazzled. "Where were you when Doggo was tryin' to cleave us in half?!" They forcefully gesture at the kid with both arms pointed at them, giving Sans an angry look.

The kid nods in thanks and smiles at him before walking off. Chara sticks behind to glare at Sans for a moment before floating after them.

\---

Bonus (crappy) illustration, since it was requested (I'm pretty sure the proportions match up for most of the picture):

You can ignore this picture if you want (I know I will). Feel free to imagine the character's appearance as you see fit.

Edit: the height difference isn't accurate anymore. 10yr old Wolfrisk is pushing five feet now (although when Frisk is a couple years older they will reach the familiar 6 feet, and, when fully grown, their wolf form will reach eight feet, provided green magic isn't available -- it's balming quality soothes their angry body, allowing it to grow with little difficulty, making the change more effective, and less painful).

Uh. Now that I think about it, the amount of things that are accurate in this illustration are not many. Their sweater does stop at their forearms still, however. I ended up going with Harry Potter logic when it came to how the legs change to resemble a dog's -- i.e. the foot grows longer, and is what becomes angled, rather than the shin, which stays straight, but gets all long and relatively thin. I don't know why I thought the previous version of their wolf legs, seen in the picture, was a good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the worst things start with good intentions. Frisk is right to be wary.


	4. Crossing the Tundra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kid continues through Snowdin, has more run-ins with skele-men, and meets a couple of Snowdin's residents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so today, before I started writing today, I decided that: 
> 
> 1) these chapters were a) too short, and b) not descriptive enough;  
> 2) My interpretation of the skeleton brothers was a) lacking when it came to Papyrus, and b) needed more back-and-forth. 
> 
> So! I made chapter 4 extra long, sufficiently descriptive (I hope), and (hopefully) did the skelebros justice.
> 
> (Update: edited to fix some discrepancies, typos, grammar, added details, trimmed the fat, bla bla bla)

The kid continues to walk along the snow-covered path, having made it past the Dogi's station (the dogs apparently hadn't heard of the "personal bubble" concept; the kid looked very uncomfortable standing there with two dogs sniffing all along them. Thankfully, the dogs judged that they were "a weird puppy", which is kind of true). Facing forward, the skeleton brothers could be seen (and in the tall one's case, heard) up ahead.

There is a large patch of bluish snow taking up the space between them and the brothers, but they didn't seem to notice the change in color.  
...  
They didn't notice the slight change in elevation either. They just continue walking, tramping through the previously pristine patch of precipitation, very much wanting to join the conversation. Papyrus glances over briefly to acknowledge their presence, but shortly thereafter does a double take. His eyes temporarily flick over to look behind them, seeing the trail of footprints that cut straight through the large patch of snow. He stares wide-eyed at the freshly paved path of prints for a literal second.

His gaze moves slowly back to the human. They'd been looking up at him this whole time, with an expression that's been getting more anxious as the silence goes on. They level their head again and look off to the side, bobbing up and down on the balls of their feet. They flinch when they look back up at him to find that he's looking right at them.

He's standing almost completely still. ...It'd be kind of unsettling if he wasn't staring a hole in their head with _googly eyes_.

"HUMAN!" He says, wide-eyed gaze unwavering; the kid jumps a little bit. It had been a full 8 seconds of silence. "YOU HAVE WALKED RIGHT PAST THE PUZZLE!" He exclaims, leaning torward the kid and pushing against his temples with his fists. He then directs his aggravation elsewhere, stamping his foot angrily into the snow.

"SANS! YOU TOLD ME PAINTING THE SNOW WOULD MAKE IT OBVIOUS THERE WAS A PUZZLE LOCATED HERE!"

"hey, 's not my fault that stop signs aren't always the first thing people picture when they see blue." His head is still angled up at Papyrus, but his eyes flick over to the kid. He tosses an exaggerated wink in their direction.

Papyrus promptly slaps and runs a hand down his face. The kid can only offer a watery grin in apology. Papyrus brings a hand to his chin for a moment.

Chara takes that opportunity to tell the kid they were the spitting image of Charlie Brown there, which they giggle at. Chara freezes in place when Papyrus looks over at the kid with a raised eyebrow, but, thankfully, nothing comes of it. Phew; they narrowly avoided the downward spiral that is telling people you can talk to ghosts.

"WELL! UM...IIIIII GUEESSSSSS THENNNN YOU'LL HAVE TOOOO DEEEEALLLL WIIIIITHHH..." The whole time he's speaking, he and Sans share a couple of looks, with Papyrus' eyes occasionally darting back over to the kid for brief moments. He suddenly drops his head into his left palm briefly, for seemingly no reason. The two objects come into contact for only the briefest of moments before he's looking at the kid again.

He gives a confident swing of the arm and a positive exclamation. Finally; that was too long a wait for Chara. It's a shame the kid seems to hate getting things done in a timely manner.

They were going to mention to them how "the time they were wasting talking to these boneheads could be spent getting closer to the barrier", because guilt will usually get the ball rolling for most things, when Papyrus follows up on his exclamation.

"THE PUZZLE DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER! IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN WITH THE SOLE PURPOSE OF THOROUGHLY CONFUSING UNSUSPECTING PUZZLEES." He speaks more proudly when his brother comes up.

Chara would like to know what the other options for what they might have needed to "deeeaaalll wiittthh", because they seriously doubt that the other options would justify them having to sit here for three literal minutes doing nothing but waiting for Papyrus to decide already.

Chara's growing frustration with the taller skeleton was forced on the backburner, though, as Sans' smooth baritone had carved right through their train of thought like a hot knife cuts through Dairy Lee.

"yeah, they'll have you _searching_ for the right answer." Sans quips from aside. Papyrus flicks his head over and briefly gives him A Look.

"I'M IGNORING THAT." He turns to face the kid again, but shortly after flicking his eyes over to Sans. "LET'S JUST HOPE YOUR PUZZLE DOES NOT _SCRAMBLE_ THE HUMAN'S BRAINS." He says with a sly grin.

Sans closes his eyes and concedes his brother's victory, nodding his head and quietly clapping his mittens together. Papyrus smiles confidently, and, angling his head up somewhat, crows a hearty "Nyeh heh heh!" before sprinting off.

\---

Turns out: unlike the puzzle with the bluish snow, the word search not only slows this kid's progress, but they seem to legitimately be confused. By a word search.

Sans is completely dumbfounded, at both that and the fact that they didn't just promptly toss it aside, like he expected (pretty much anyone else would have!); what did they do? They showed up, saw the paper on the ground, walked over to it, bent down to inspect it, then, once they realized what it was, flopped over in the snow, and, after looking around and seeing the stunning lack of writing utensils, called over to him from the middle of the clearing, asking for a pencil.

Sans wondered if this kid was considered abnormal where they were from. An anomaly, if you will.

Heh.

Sans notices that the human(?) is wagging their tail a little bit as they circle another word on the sheet, and his expression sours.

He can't help but feel like his joke has been forced to be less funny. The universe really must not like him, or something, because the timing of that was too cruel to be coincidental.

\---

Sans looks completely dumbfounded (it's his eyes that give him away; his mouth hasn't budged). Papyrus, on the other hand, gives the kid a solemn nod; he knows their pain. He then turns to Sans with lidded eyes, and leans back, with his head tilted back so he has to look down at him (for maximum condescension).

Sans is getting an eyesocket-full of smugness and what Chara suspects is an unspoken "I told you so". However, Sans either doesn't notice or doesn't care; either way, his brow furrows a bit around the time when the kid finds their seventh word; his face is like if he made a mistake when telling a science joke, and somebody corrected him in the most "you are stupid, hey guys, look how stupid" way possible.

Chara chuckles at the thought.

\---

Some time after completing the Junior Jumble, the kid passes through a clearing with a wooden table close by a rock wall. They walk over to it, bouncing from foot to foot as they look it over. Utensils, a microwave (they follow the cord with their eyes to see that it isn't actually plugged into anything), a note from the darling Papyrus, and a plate of spaghetti.

They don't give the spaghetti much thought after they see it's frozen to the plate.

\---

The next puzzle looked something like a disco floor, and came with a lengthy set of instructions that Chara tried hard to ignore. (It didn't help that the minutes long explanation was delivered in Papyrus' gravelly voice, instead of, say, Sans' smooth baritone.) The kid, meanwhile, had a face that said they were taking mental notes.

Their note taking didn't end up mattering. When Papyrus booted up the machine to begin the puzzle, it started sorting through countless color combinations, getting faster and faster. Chara tried to cover the kid's eyes with their hand (because even though they started looking ill, they still refused to look away). Unfortunately, they could see right through it. The machine finally settled on a pattern that consisted of a clear path clean across the floor, and little else. Papyrus simply stared at the floor for a moment, then spun slowly away, away from the machine and out through the forest.

\---

The "gauntlet of deadly terror", even if Papyrus didn't end up activating it, didn't seem like it would be able to operate at all without breaking prematurely, if it's components' static appearances were anything to go off of. If anything, it was probably better that Papyrus didn't waste their time by using it, Chara thinks as the kid approaches Snowdin town.

The kid stares at the sign, wonder in their eyes, for a bit, before an unmoved Chara taps their shoulder.

"Come on, progress must be made." They motion over to the far side of town, where the kid can see the entrance to a cave, and flowing into it, a large river. However, the kid shakes their head; they want to explore!

They wander about for a bit, talking to the different townsfolk. One of them was a politically minded bear, one was a little bescarved mouse, and one was another wolf! They'd headed North at one point, and saw a light grey wolf chucking ice into the river. It paused for a moment, just as it was about to throw the latest in a series of huge ice blocks, looking just as surprised to see them standing there as they were to see him, no less. For a moment, they were equals (at least in terms of how suprised they were to see each other).

Walking back into the clearing, a little buck-toothed lizard, sitting close by the "Giftmas tree", looks up. Upon seeing the kid, their face lights up, and they jog over to them. As they get close, they trip and hit the ground with their face. However, when they pull themselves back up, they act as if it never happened. They're clearly very excited.

Chara raises an eyebrow.

"Yo, don't worry about me. Happens all the time. Anyways, you're a kid too, right? I can tell 'cause you're wearing a striped shirt." They say, looking up at the kid's face while bouncing on the balls of their feet. The kid looks down at their shirt for a moment before looking back at the lizard.

"That's pretty cool, seein' a kid like me going places without grown-ups stopping you or slowing you down and stuff."

Chara barks a laugh.

"You prob'ly heard it already, but someone started a rumor that somebody new came out of the Ruins! How cool is _that_? ...Man, I'm so lucky. My gramps lived his whole life without somethin' like that happening, so this is obviously the coolest thing I might end up experiencing. Well, except maybe meeting Undyne." Their eyes look straight forward, and go a bit vacant; Chara chuckles when they hear the lizard mutter 'so cool...' with that starstruck expression; they're fantasizing about whoever "Undyne" is, no doubt. Simple things, children's desires.

They look off to the side for a moment, and then looks very sheepish when they speak again.

"That's all I had to say, really, other than 'you look really cool', which is what I was _gonna_ say earlier, but I forgot, ha ha. See ya later!" They say, scampering off.

The kid stands there for another five seconds before Chara leans in towards them.

"I don't think I want to know what happened to gramps if his life was that short," Chara says in a stage whisper as the kid starts walking again. They know that, chances are, 'gramps' died before they themself fell down, and likely never saw a human, but there was an opportunity for a joke there, so they snatched it up.

They were kind of disappointed when the kid didn't laugh.

\---

The kid looks like they're still processing that last jumble of nonsequitors as Chara ushers them forth, towards the cave at the edge of town. They're almost there when the kid's face heats up; must have finally noticed the compliment in there.

Chara supposes they likely didn't get complimented often on the surface, since, when not a huge, "scary" wolf, they were a ratty looking kid. Although, to be fair, when they were stuck as said ratty looking kid, they had that cute little baby face, which probably won them the occasional caretaker...that is, before things would get hairy. Chara smiles a bit, despite themself.

Their thoughts are interrupted by a sudden rush of fog, and a dark shape approaches. Chara's brow furrows, and they slowly open their mouth, sticking the lower jaw out a bit. They lean forward, bringing their hand up to their forehead, as they attempt to make some sense of the shape belonging to this thing that all of a sudden obstructs their progressing to Waterfall.

"HUMAN. ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS."

"Ah, s%&t."

\---

Papyrus rambles on about 'spaghetti appreciation' or some such nonsense, which Chara is less than eager about; come on...shut up and get out of my way. They overdramatically look at their nails (a standard way to broadcast boredom) for a bit, but eventually they get sick of waiting, and lean into the kid's field of vision, looking at them expectantly, agitation plain on their face.  
...  
The kid's focus clearly lies elsewhere.

They're making some kind of weird face. Chara stares at them with a combination of furrowed eyebrows and wide eyes; a purposefully exaggerated expression to show their current mental state. That  _reminds_ them of something. The expression itself kind of looks like how Chara imagines Papyrus looks at spaghetti, but it looks off.

Perhaps picking the kid's brain for the answer will yield results.

Oh, _lord_ , they're trying to imitate this character that's always trying to get their "senpai" to acknowledge them. It's not what they had in mind, but that's alright, 'cause this is even better.

...Really, it was all Chara could do to not laugh in their face. Are they for real, or are they just doing this for Chara's amusement? 

This _would_ only serve to frustrate Chara further, normally (they kind of want to just go to the inn and sleep forever at the moment); if only the kid didn't have that ridiculous wolf face, then Chara could allow themselves to be angry.

Chara looks back over to Papyrus, who is _still_ talking. Their smile from a moment ago fades the rest of the way when, even though they aren't really listening, they perk up when his tone of voice becomes hesitant; he looks conflicted all of a sudden. Chara supposes they should start paying attention, now, just in case he does something unexpected.

"THIS IS ALL WRONG! I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND!"

He says with _just_ the right intonation needed to make it sound like it would, in fact, be some kind of terrible, ugly thing. The kid's playful expression fractures, and their eyes go wide before their bottom lip starts quivering a bit. Papyrus is still ranting on about popularity when a sniffle catches his attention. He turns to see the kid struggling not to break down right in front of him. They're standing stock still, but they're gently vibrating, clenching their hands as a means of coping. They have his full attention once they start speaking.

"Everybody I meet _hates_ me eventually." Sniff. "Even _you_!" Their voice wavers at the end, and they promptly choke on a sob. "Why couldn't you just hate me from the _start_?" Shaky gasp. "At least then I wouldn't get hurt so _bad_ when it does happen," a shaky voice says, growing quieter; the kid hugs themself and angles their head down a bit, continuing to breathe loud and unevenly.

They lower themselves to the ground, slowly (moreso because they don't want to be tempted to just fall over lamely than because they're looking out for their physical safety). They curl up as they sit, in an attempt at the fetal position, but they find that it's a bit harder with feet like theirs. They make an angry, exasperated sound, looking down at their awkwardly positioned limbs with undisguised contempt. They wrap their arms around their legs, rest their forehead on their knees, and weep softly, with the occasional shaky gasp.

...

Was what Papyrus had to do to get into the Royal Guard worth cutting someone so deeply, without remorse?

He'd gain so much: popularity... prestige... thousands of fans yelling his name...

...but will any of them like him for him, as this human does?

...

Chara sat next to the kid, only able to offer sympathy. They couldn't even offer a shoulder to cry on... some partner they turned out to be. They sighed, vainly attempting to hold the kid close; their left arm kept phasing in and out of the kid's back as they would breathe.

After a moment or two, they looked up from where they were sitting with the kid, watching Papyrus as his resolve continues to deteriorate.

Papyrus runs a gloved thumb over the symbol on his chestplate a few times, looking downcast, before he looks back over to the kid. After a few more seconds, he speaks up.

"HUMAN. I DIDN'T MEAN WE COULDN'T BE FRIENDS BECAUSE I HATED YOU. YOU'RE REALLY NICE! YOU SEEM TO REALLY ENJOY MY PUZZLES (EVEN THOUGH YOU KIND OF SKIPPED THE FIRST ONE)! AND! NOBODY'S EVER ABSTAINED FROM MY SPAGHETTI IN THE INTEREST OF SHARING IT WITH ME BEFORE! ... _NOBODY'S_ BEEN THIS GOOD A FRIEND TO ME, EXCEPT PERHAPS MY BROTHER." He pauses mid-reassuring speech, continuing to slowly wring his hands, for a moment. He then softly strides over to the still teary-eyed kid, and bends down some to place a hand on their shoulder. They look up at him.

"YOU ARE AWESOME. SO! PLEASE DO NOT CRY." His face blanks as his words from earlier register. Shortly after, he looks at them with sympathy and a gleam of camaraderie when he says in an uncharacteristically quiet voice:

"We are friends, aren't we." His voice is still gravelly, but it's tone carries the weight of Papyrus' realization.

He lowers himself to one knee to hug the sniffling child; slowly, so as not to spook them. After the initial shock, the bleary-eyed child slowly brings up an arm, and lays it across his back; their hand rests around his right shoulderblade. After a moment, they bring in their other arm to join it, and squeeze. The sensation they feel makes it real for them. They grip him tighter, squeezing their eyes shut as they bury their head into the crook of his neck, giving an ugly sob through their slightly open mouth, and Papyrus begins to stroke their hair soothingly in response.

They stay huddled like that until the kid's breathing has slowed down to what Papyrus deems sufficiently regular.

Chara's not as indifferent to the situation as they appeared, but they were used to dealing with crybaby children in the past, so it came naturally. It's kind of nice to see the kid finally make a friend, and, out of all the children Chara's been stuck to, so far this kid's the only one who would only reach crying levels of emotional via these kinds of earth-shaking (for them) situations. Chara can respect that; they were the same way, and if that didn't tug at their heartstrings, what would?

\---

The skeleton takes a few steps back, and with a hand on the hip, points to the kid dramatically.

"HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO SPARE YOU." He pauses. "I CAN EARN ETERNAL PRESTIGE ANOTHER WAY!... HMM...

"YES! I'VE GOT IT." He leans skyward, with his left hand held flat beneath his chin, and radiates confidence as his cape flutters in the non-existent wind.

"I..." He pauses for dramatic effect. "SHALL STRIVE TO HAVE MINE BE THE MOST PERPLEXING PUZZLEMENTS IN ALL THE UNDERGROUND! EACH PUZZLE I CREATE WILL BE REQUIRED TO PASS MANY RIGOROUS EXAMINATIONS BEFORE THEY WILL BE EVEN CONSIDERED ACCEPTABLE FOR BEING USED BY MY ADORING PUBLIC. ALL SHALL MARVEL AT MY UNFATHOMABLE ABILITY TO CONFUSE!" Papyrus is off again, on another grandiose tirade filled with multiple words that can only be used in very precise circumstances; Chara thinks they heard 'capricious' in there somewhere. (They definitely heard when Papyrus mentioned "having Sans test the physically demanding puzzles, because he could use the exercise". Chara had smiled at the thought of an exhausted Sans in a track suit and sweat band, perspiring profusely as he slowly ambles through an obstacle course).

As he speaks, the kid continues to look at him with nothing but fondness. They give a small, fond chuckle at the supposed results of his endeavors, wipe their nose, and look up at Papyrus, already hard at work on his speech for when he gets crowned "Biannual Befuddler", with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A change in perspective, or, "Why Papyrus put his forehead in his left palm for seemingly no reason"}
> 
> "I GUESSSS THENNNN YOU'LL HAVE TOOOO DEAL WIIITTTHHH..." He draws out his speech. 
> 
> He shoots Sans a look that says: 
> 
> 'Do we go ahead and have them try this puzzle anyway, or should we just move on?' 
> 
> From far off, Sans tosses over a lazy-eyed reply: 'ok.'
> 
> Papyrus lowers his eyelids. 
> 
> 'Dude, come on.'
> 
> 'ok.'
> 
> He suddenly drops his head into his left palm briefly, for seemingly no reason. The two objects come into contact for only the briefest of moments before he's looking at the kid again.
> 
> \---
> 
> Also, I hope I did okay with whatever character development can be found in this chapter, and also that the feelsy bit is written well enough to actually induce a bit of feels.
> 
> PS: I'm probably going to put my Zelda story on hold until this one is finished, because I feel like this one takes priority.


	5. Skipping the Fish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk goes through the entirety of Waterfall in the dead of night, with MK to guide them. Pretty much nobody knows that they're human. They can afford to drag their feet a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSFORMERS IDW  
> SPOTLIGHT: MONSTER KID
> 
> At this rate, the story will probably end at around ten chapters...I think. It depends.

The kid pushes off the ground, their legs wobbling. They bid Papyrus farewell, and continue on, past Snowdin and into the beginnings of Waterfall--their feet make slight scraping sounds against the weathered, stony floor as they walk. Up ahead, they spot Sans at a sentry station.

"heya. saw ya almost duke it out with my bro. 's a good thing you got him to sympathize with ya--he's a real bone-afide warrior."

"Oh!..." Their voice drops to a whisper, and they glance over to make sure no one else is listening. "Sorry you had to see that." They pause, and their stance becomes a more compact.

Sans just looks at them for a bit. Chara's eyes go out of focus--Sans' voice brings them back.

"well...y'know what cheers me up; grillby's--in fact, i'm 'bout to go on break. let's head on down. grillbz makes the best burg in town, phalanges down." He walks out from behind the sentry station, and holds his arm out a bit to show he was offering them his coat sleeve. They reach down to take it. "i know a shortcut."

One moment they were here, the next they were at a homey bar. Chara could only describe the visual experience as being like when you're in a pitch dark room, and staring in one spot too long makes it look like it's getting even darker, so you move your eyes' focus, and the extra darkness quickly 'fades' away.

On their way over to the bar, various creatures greet Sans. The kid was weirded out a little by a monster that appeared to be a mouth with arms and legs. They whispered to Sans, asking about one "Pack Man", angling their head back at the mouth-person. The prompt seemed to confuse him just as much as it confused Chara, so the kid dropped it.

They sat at the bar, where a man, wearing a dapper vest, cleaning out a glass, and being made of fire, stood. Sans gave 'em their options, and they placed their order.

"don't tell me, tell the man behind the counter," He winked. The kid huffs at him, puffing out their cheeks (no doubt they'd heard that before), and hunches over a bit as they shyly repeat their order to the barkeep. After getting the orders, the barkeep walks through the door. "while we wait..." The kid turns to face Sans. "spill. y'seem like ya got a load on your mind, and i don't like not knowin' stuff."

They fiddle with their fingers a bit. "Just... y'know..." They sigh. "Being me, on the surface, it was really hard. Sometimes nice people would take me in, take care'a me, y'know. No one stuck around, though, once the moon got fat... Some of them really did like me, but they said they didn't wanna risk the chance of the mean people 'lynching' them." Sans' browbone rose for a moment. He tenses up very slightly, waiting for the thing that always happens when a kid uses audible quotation. "Sans, what is 'lynching?'" He surreptitiously began to sweat, but maintained his lazy gaze.

"uh. they, uh--ah, geez--look, kid. uh...it's not good." He breathes a sigh, putting his face in his hand (the arm said hand belonged to was resting on the bar). Chara was enjoying watching mr. 'chill dude' fidget. He sighs again. "it...it kinda is like...it kinda means that a group of humans will do a bunch of things to harm a person, or their livelihood, or family, or whatever, leading up to, or--sometimes they skip straight to it--the person gets a rope tied real tight 'round their neck, and then they get lifted off the ground like that. chokes 'em to death." The kid quietly draws a sharp breath, covering their mouth with a hand. "don't worry, though. i'm probably wrong."

"If that's true, then...then, I'm happy that I could keep them safe." They give a sad frown. After a moment, they continue. "Some of them cried a little when I had to leave. The one lady cried more when I said 'I'm used to it', so I don't tell people that anymore." Sans' eyes look just a little sadder.

He looks to his right to see a plate being placed in front of him. He looks back to the kid, who is silently eating. He leans over to them a little bit, and they accept the gesture, and lean in to meet him, resting the right side of their head on top of his skull.

"'sucks, kid." His voice is muffled, but his words reverberate through their chest.

\---

"can't believe you dragged me away from m' work for so long." Sans had said to them with a lazy grin, hopping off his stool. He turned around a bit to meet their gaze, holding a gloved hand out to them. They took it in their own, they started walking, and the next thing Chara knew, Sans'd brought the kid back to his station in Waterfall. "s'always good to know the best route to where you're goin'--means i don't have to walk as far." He winks up at them as he brushes his mittens against each other. He sits down, swings his legs up onto the desk, leaning back into the chair. He closes his eyes, and gives a lazy, two-fingered salute in their direction--as if to say "see ya around"--with his right arm before bringing it up behind his skull to join the left.

The kid looks at him for a little bit after that. Once it's clear to them that he's asleep, they finally start walking away. Chara keeps their eyes on him as they float after the kid, and only once Sans is completely out of sight do they gaze forward again.

Walking through the cavern once more for a ways, the kid has become noticeably more relaxed---the area is very serene, Chara will admit. A majority of Waterfall is practically silent, but there's a quiet ambience--a whisper of mysticism--just barely heard, but enough to stave off the paranoid silence Chara had felt back in the forest. They feel serene, quietly floating along, listening to the quiet 'click, clack' of the kid's toenails against the worn stone floor--the aged cavern wall, weathered to the point of smooth bumpiness, had caused the sounds to gain such an echo as to make it pleasing to the ear. This was always their favorite part of the Underground.

\---

When they come into contact with a large patch of tall grass, the kid points their head skyward, and slowly wades through. Chara, however, hangs back for a moment--their hesitation is rewarded with the sight of doggy nose, poking up out of the grass like a snorkel, bobbing along as the kid shifts through the grass; they chuckle to themself, shaking their head lovingly before following the kid into the grass. Upon reaching the end of the grass, the kid slowly frees their body, making various movements as they step out on tip-toe.

Their caution is rendered a waste, though--the little yellow lizard from Snowdin barrels out of the grass, startling them. They quickly lean out of the way, but the shift in their center of gravity causes them to lose balance and fall onto their rump. They sit there on the ground for a moment, their eyes wide (for the third time thus far, Chara notes) and arms raised (in a way that mirrored that of a desperado). Chara tells them that they look like a surprised toddler, which sobers them. They give a little laugh and climb back up.

"Yo, are you sneaking out here to see her, too?" Oh, right, that lizard was still here.

"No, I'm on my way to see Asgore." The kid replies.

"Oh--yeah, he's cool." The lizard's expression becomes confident, and they say with certainty, "not as cool as Undyne, though! She's the greatest!" They stop to think for a second. "Yo, maybe...maybe she can help you get to Asgore!"

"Cool! That'll help me a lot! Can you take me to see her, pretty please?" The kid quickly taps their feet on the floor in their excitement. They're bent over, looking at the lizard with hands clasped and teeth bared to emphasize. Chara imagines that, back on the surface, the idea of seeing a six-foot werewolf act like an 8-yr-old child would have been kind of unsettling to those who weren't in the know.

The lizard suddenly looks all sly. They lean their head off to one side, feigning indecision. "Hmm, I dunno, it's really gonna cut into my free time..."

"No, come on, please?"

"Huhhh...I don't--it--hmm, tough decision..." They manage to say, before being pushed onto the ground. Chara's eyes widen, and they whip their head over, smiling in surprise. The kid has a look of someone who's run out of patience. Their mouth is pursed in a small frown, and their eyebrows are furrowed. Chara gives a proud smile-- _finally_ , they're asserting themselves!

They keep that face for all of a second before they get all scared and rush over to the lizard. Dang it.

"Oh, no! I'm sorry! Don't hate me!" They quickly pull the lizard to their feet. They look him over frantically, hunched over and tensed up, anxiously wringing their hands. The lizard just looks like they're trying to process what just happened. They look over at the kid, who quickly flinches. Then they look all awestruck.

"Wow, that was so cool! You're really tough!" The kid was still frantically apologizing. "Don't be sorry, dude, I'm fine. Skin's hard as leather from falling over so many times, or so Mom always tells people; 'my child, Kid, has fallen over so many times their skin's practically made of leather!'...I don't really know what leather is for sure, but I guess it's really thick...?" They continue, keeping their eyes on the kid, who's slowly unwinding as "Kid" continues to speak. Eventually, they stand up, and Kid feels proud of themself for helping somebody out. Chara takes this lizard being the kid's elder into consideration.

"Now, then, let's get going. You must've really wanted to get going, considering, ha, ha..." They motion for the kid--who still looks a bit downcast--to follow.

\---

The group of misfit children emerged in another large room. As it was like with the caves that came before, this cavern's walls were smooth, and the atmosphere was calming. However, there was something different about this room--not entirely unlike earlier, when the three of them had passed into a small stony hallway that saw Sans sleeping against a telescope. They had quietly turned a corner, lightly stepping up to what looked like a dead end. Then, through some action that Chara hadn't been paying enough attention at the time to remember, the wall busted open. The three of them froze--eventually, it was decided that the kid would check on Sans. They turned the corner, only to find that he was gone.

Chara was brought back to the present when Kid spoke up--what is it with this place and inducing bouts of all-consuming thought?

"These are the Echo Flowers. They repeat the last thing said into them. Cool, right?" Their makeshift guide informed.

"Cool, right?" The flower repeated. It sounded almost like Kid's voice, but there was a sort of watery, ethereal quality to how it sounded. After Kid saw that the kid was done examining it, they started walking again. They passed through a few more rooms, and the terrain eventually changed, from weathered stone to grassy plains (and the occasional wooden bridge). The room they were in currently featured some more of the plaques that the kid wasn't too keen on reading anymore, and up until Kid spoke, the quiet sloshing of the fluorescent water and the soft crunch of grass beneath feet were the only sounds to be heard.

"You know, I'm actually not supposed to be out this late. My parents think I'm asleep at home right now, ha ha... I hope they don't find out before I get back, 'cause I don't want them to worry." Kid says, turning their head back towards the kid, who rubbed at their eyes a bit. "Thankfully, they were both asleep already when I checked, right before I left... I don't think I would be able to get away with this during the day. Unless I skipped school or something... but only bad kids skip school! And Undyne beats up all the bad guys!" They jump in place a couple times before speeding up to their former pace (this allowed the kid to catch up a bit). "We're almost there! Just a bit farther 'til Undyne's house!" They say, cheerfully, before stopping, allowing the kid to catch up to them. Kid looks up at them with a frown.

"Actually, um...now that I think about it, if we bothered Undyne right now, we'd both get in a lot of trouble for exploring at this time 'a night...especially since my parents don't know about it!... Man..." They kick a pebble into the water. "Geez, dude. I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"We can't get Undyne's help right now. Even if we didn't get in trouble, she's still not going to want to escort anyone right now, not even her biggest fan. We should probably head back and try again tomorrow."

"No, no, no! I gotta go today," The kid stresses. Kid chews their lip and bounces on the balls of their feet, making nervous sounds, before they finally say, "a...alright. I guess I can get you as far as Hotland."

\---

They pass through a small cave populated by a moss-covered statue, rendered smooth by years of weathering. The kid looks at it for a bit, allowing Kid to walk out of sight. After another moment, they leave, and soon after come across a bucket of umbrellas. After leaving an umbrella for the statue, a music box began to play. ... Chara quickly wiped their eyes as the kid began to walk back past them. They take another umbrella, and catch up to Kid. When they catch sight of each other, Kid runs over to them and ducks under the umbrella. The kid sees why, when, just a bit further on, they can hear what sounds just like rain.

Crossing over into the next area, multiple small waterfalls run down the tunnel's right hand side, and the kid runs their hand through one of them in passing. Water droplets rain down from an unseen ceiling high above--they hit the umbrella with a soft 'pap-pap'--and the ground beneath their feet is lined with puddles for quite some distance. The kid and their guide step in a few of these puddles as they pass through.

\---

The kid stares, in awe of the multiple star-like crystals that line the cavern ceiling.

"Directly across from us is Castle Dreemurr--that's where the king lives. And down there? That's Hotland. It's got lots of lava. And see that city under the castle? That's New Home. The name sucks, but it's okay, I guess," Kid says to them from aside. Chara notes this guide's lack of finesse in pointing out landmarks, but at least they seem enthusiastic.

Further ahead, there's a high wall--perfectly smooth, with no immediate way around it. Thankfully, the kid has the idea to lift Kid up onto the platform. As a followup, they then jump up, grab the ledge, and pull themselves up. They give the impressed Kid a beamy smile, and they're on their way.

\---

Looking up from where they are, this next cave mouth seems to be the only way into Hotland without having to cross what looks like a miniature mountain range.

"Helm's Deep," the kid says.

"What?" "Wait--no, it's the Red Gate that connects to Moria," The explorer and their guide say/mutter at the same time.

"The Red Gate. Gandalf didn't want the Company to go across the Misty Mountains because of how dangerous it is up there, so they go South a long time to the Red Gate, and past the gate is Moria." They bend down next to Kid, and they point. " _There's_ the Misty Mountains, _there's_ the Red Gate, and the _tunnel_ is Moria."

"Oh, okay," Kid says, taking that moment as an opportunity to get them moving again. They nudge the kid forward a bit, and that spurs them on towards the "Red Gate." Inside the cave is a giant, neon sign that says "WELCOME TO HOTLAND." Given how it hurt their eyes a bit, it could very well have been to brace you for the natural light of the magma, the heat from which was slowly coming to the forefront. At the end of the tunnel, Kid stops in front of them, and turns around. Looking out, the kid can see a large white building; the heat is causing it's shape to waver.

"Um, good luck," Their ex-guide says, looking up at the kid. They look off to the side, and say, "you're really cool, going all the way to the castle by yourself, pretty much." The kid's face heats up at the compliment, and they give Kid a watery smile, and, in a moment of reckless abandon, they go down on one knee to hug them. "Woah!...um... Uh..." They too, get flustered, and fidget a bit.

The kid takes that as a cue to back out of the hug, and says, "I guess now I know how Mama felt when she said goodbye to the other six." They wipe at their eye.

"That reminds me. Who _is_ your mom?"

"She's called Toriel. She lives in the Ruins." The kid doesn't realize their slip up until Kid's face lights up.

"Wait... _you_ were the 'mystery monster' the whole time?! That's the best plot twist ever!" They lean against the kid's thigh, in a pseudo-hug. "I ended up being friends with the Ruins mystery monster, just like I told you...them?...that I would! Woah...I guess that means that...I told you that we were destined to meet...while we were meeting!" They happily bounce in place. "That's so meta! And confusingly written!"

"Promise you won't tell?"

"Dude--you can't see it, but I'm totally crossing my heart."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bit where Frisk misnames Moria as Helm's Deep was a legitimate blunder on my part. Those Lego commercials have forever screwed with my memory.
> 
> \---
> 
> Frisk landed in the Underground at around 6:00pm.  
> They started their adventure in Snowdin at about 8:00.  
> By the time they face Papyrus, it's already around 9:30.  
> By the time they're out of grillby's, it's about 10:15.  
> It's around 12:45am as of when Frisk and Kid are staring off at the castle.  
> Frisk makes it to Hotland at about 1:15.
> 
> To be fair, I'd drag my feet through the Underground, too, but that's because I walk slowly. Maybe it's the same deal.


	6. Losing the Electrolytes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kid meets an awkward lizard, sets out into Fiery Fargo, and is presumably sweating like the main guy in Airplane.
> 
> Whilst they're exploring Hotland, I recommend listening to the Arabian Dance from the Nutcracker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Celebrating over 20 kudos and nearly 300 reads! Holy halibut, guys, thank you very much.
> 
> I wasn't too sure about this story when I published the first chapter, but if it weren't for it getting such positive reception (as well as people agreeing with me that they'd like to see 'the adventures of the kid' to continue), I wouldn't have improved my way of writing children characters, or the charming personalities seen in my favorite video game, and there wouldn't be 6 whole chapters of this mess. 
> 
> I can only hope to become as good as the likes of charming wordsmith feralphoenix (cue ocarina of time boss stinger). They're my favorite fanfic author, and if you like this story, check them out--their 'ycouyo' series expanded my view of sexual orientation in a way that was lovely to read and holds my interest like few things have.

Looking out, one could see cliffs of brimstone, connected by thin bridges of rock. Far, far below, a lake of fire lies, grumpily bubbling and gurgling. Directly across the wooden bridge that connected Waterfall to this hellish landscape, one could see a large white building with a sign that read "Lab" in wavering letters, the heat distorting one's view of the area.  
  
Chara looks down from their non-existent perch to see the kid carefully crossing the bridge, their tongue poked out in concentration.  
  
"Be careful, yeah?" They call down. The kid lifts their left arm slightly to give a small thumbs up, only to quickly reattach it to the rope when they start to lose balance. Chara silently cursed themself for nearly causing an unwelcome case of dramatic irony.  
  
The kid slowly makes it over to the other side, and as soon as they're sure they have both feet on blessed, solid, unmoving ground, they knowingly fall forwards onto the cliff face, and shiver in relief. Chara chuckles as they float down to meet them.  
  
The kid lifts their head to see a water cooler. They lazily inchworm over to it, roll over onto their back, and lift their arm to the controls, resting their finger on the light blue button. Ice cold water cascades down onto their head and into their mouth as their finger continues to press down on the tab.  
  
"Smells like wet dog and brimstone."  
  
The kid scrambles back to their feet, the entire upper half of their sweater nearly soaked, and they saunter on over to the lab door.  
  
\---  
  
Inside, it's pitch black. However, Chara is not on the list of things shrouded in darkness.  
  
"You're glow-in-the-dark!" The kid says excitedly.  
  
"No, I'm not. Do you see me lighting up the room? I'm not a glow stick, you goober. You can still see me in the dark because light isn't what causes me to show up. I'm technically in your head. What you're seeing is merely a projection of myself, I believe."  
  
"Oh, dang." A pause. "How am I supposed to hold your hand now?" they say, slyly. Chara doesn't know how to respond to this. Oh no. They can't stop it--their face goes a bit redder, and they can feel it. Oh no. They put their face in their hands, and in their best impression of Napstablook: "oh no......"  
  
The lights suddenly blaze to life, and Chara can see the kid looking pleased with themselves for all two tenths of a second they have before their retinas melt. They blink rapidly as they adjust to the increased level of brightness.  
  
Suddenly, a yellow lizard appears from a doorway, singing some sort of theme tune. They slowly dance-walk into the main area with their eyes closed. The kid claps and gives a small "yayyyy". The lizard opens their eyes, and freezes.  
  
"Um-uh, how m-much o-of that d-d-did you wit-wit-witne-- _uggh_ \--see?" They say, incredibly nervously. The kid's eyes cry out at the sight of this clearly very distressed lizard.  
  
"You're very good, an-and, but you look sad. And scared. I feel like that too sometimes, an' a hug always makes me feel better. So...can I hug--do you wan' a hug?" The kid holds their arms out a bit, and the lizard's jaw goes slack.  
  
"Oh em g-gee...you are already the c-cutest thing e-ever." They hold their arms out. "Y-y-yeah, I guess I c-c-could use a hug right now." The kid sails into their arms, and the lizard squeaks as the kid lifts them off the ground.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you scarr-scared of being up--er, high up?" The kid slowly drops to one knee, and the lizard's toes make a soft 'clack' as they reconnect with the tiles. However, the kid is still hugging them, now beginning running a thumb over the lizard's forehead. They fidget, and the kid backs out of the hug. "Sorry. Mama would do that when I hugged her, and it feels really good on my hair, so I thought you might like it too." The lizard brings their hands up to their smiling mouth and squeals very softly--Chara rolls their eyes.  
  
"You are the a-absolute sweetest person I h-have ever met." The lizard sticks a hand out. "I'm Alphys. Royal Scientist to K-king Asgore. I created Mettaton, the Un-underground's biggest st-st--, st-st-- _uuggghh_ \--the Underground's biggest _celebrity_." Their look of agitation melts into one resembling parental pride. "Th-this is supposed to be a secret, but I've working on something very special for him. It's his bra--" The kid's phone rings. They look down to their pocket, then look back up at Alphys, expectantly. The lizard motions away at them as a 'go ahead.'  
  
"Hello?" They croak out.  
  
"HUMAN!"

"Hi, Papyrus!" Their mood instantly brightens. They shift to cradle the phone against their ear. "Why are you calling me so late?" They then look over at Alphys with a raised eyebrow, as if to say 'and why are _you_ up so late?' Alphys just shrugs, unblinking.  
  
"I WAS CALLING IN TO TELL YOU OF MY BRILLIANT IDEA. YOU ARE MY COOL FRIEND, AS YOU KNOW."  
  
"How'd you even get this number?" They mutter as he speaks.  
  
"YOU MAY NOT KNOW THIS, FRIEND HUMAN, BUT I HAVE MANY CONNECTIONS. AND! I THINK THAT YOU, MY BESTY, WOULD GET ALONG *GREAT* WITH MY EQUALLY-BESTISH, UNDYNE (WHO I HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT IN OUR TIME OF DRAMATICAL FRIENDSHIP FORGING). ONE POSITIVE TRAIT YOU HAVE IN COMMON: YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH ME! NYEH HEH HEH!!" Click. The kid looks over to Alphys.  
  
"Um, I-I forgot what I was talking about before. I g-g-got distracted by y-your cell phone. It's ancient!" Alphys stood up on their tip-toes and gently pulled the phone from their hands. "Hold tight, s-sweetie. I'm g-g-gonna make y-your phone ULTRA COOL." They lower their head, clenching their free hand into a fist, and bringing the corresponding arm down in a mechanical motion--a dramatic pose of sorts. Chara is still kind of awed by the concept of a phone you can carry with you being a thing at all, but the kid looks quite appreciative at the prospect of having it made "ultra cool"--they bounce in place after Alphys dashes off to the other room.

Faint whirring and hammering could be heard from the room they ran into.  
  
After what only felt like mere seconds, Alphys re-emerges. The small, yellow brick with the olive green screen is gone--it has been replaced with a _sleek_ , _thinner_ yellow brick, the screen of which, after Alphys gently handed the phone to the kid, revealed itself to be a colorful display with a flourish. The kid stares at the screen (and the plethora of applications) in awe, and they run their thumb along the slick back end of the plastic--must be smooth to the touch.  
  
"So cool..." They look up at Alphys. "You're amazing," they deadpan, but their unwavering focus carries their true sentiments--Alphys glows with bashfulness, and they look at the floor, rubbing their feet against each other.  
  
"Ah-ha ha-ha ha...Naw," Alphys says. Suddenly, they look up to meet the kid's gaze--their expression has changed to one of excitement. They confidently bring their arms up, fists clenched. "Now lemme tell you about all the cool features!" They demand, passionately. The kid grins down at them excitedly.

\---

After Alphys had finished going over all of the phone's features, the kid had been all too eager to fool around with some of them--they had been eager to test the jetpack, but refrained from doing so, so as to be a gracious houseguest--they stuffed all that they had been carrying into the phone's dimensional box, and went around friending everybody on the Undernet--they sent a message to Papyrus that simply said 'hi'.  
   The whole situation eventually devolved into Alphys and them, sitting on the floor, sending text messages to each other back and forth--even though they were right across from each other--they would occasionally look at each other and promptly giggle like childre--well, Chara guessed they could really only berate Alphys for that, given the circumstances.  
  
It had ended up being an entire hour after all of that, and now it's becoming increasingly obvious, even to Alphys, that the kid is on the verge of passing out. Adrenaline was all that kept them going this far into the night--even in Waterfall, there had been the looming possibility of capture, made especially prominent by the fact that the captain of the Royal Guard was only living a hop, skip and a jump away. Now, they finally felt some semblance of safety--they were hanging out in a casual setting with their fast friend, sending whatever philosophical nonsequitor came to mind as a text message. Here in the lab, all thoughts of possible danger fell to the abyss, taking all the kid's energy with them. Drowsy, pillowy feelings of comfort and contentment swelled to take their place.  
  
"Um, you-y-you look pretty tired. I-i-if you wanted, you could crash here." The kid shakes their head.  
  
"I'm not tired," they croak, weakly slinging their head in denial. Alphys cocks their head and presses their mouth in a line at the obvious lie.  
  
"I-it could be like a sleepover~," they offer, angling their head so that their eyes have to be looking up in order to meet the kid's gaze. The kid weakly nods, giving a quiet 'mm-hmm.'  
   Alphys reaches over to take their hand; they both clamber up to their feet, and amble on toward Alphys' living space, at the far end of the lab. The kid's feet slap against the ground haphazardly as they groggily trail behind their pint-sized guide, swaying left and right as they try their darnedest not to fall over on them.

With the exception of that hour-long (give or take) nap at Toriel's, how long has it been since they last had a good night's sleep?  
  
The floor is lined with camo green shag carpeting, and the dim lighting makes the walls appear to be an orange-ish color, like that of a sunset. The room was furnished with a large, green couch with (seemingly over-stuffed) removable back cushions, a CRT television, which, along with a large pile of VHS tapes and some sort of plastic disc--they're too small to be Betamax (whose labels consisted of different combinations of pink and white), rested upon a black entertainment center.  
  
One of the center's cubby holes contained a huge VCR, the shell of which was mismatched and/or sharp-looking in multiple spots, and about a third of the way across the front, the silver casing would overlap the smaller black casing, meaning that around the heads-up display, the silver bits of VCR above the screen stuck out a few centimeters farther than the bits of black below the HUD.  
   In one spot, the colored lights were a full half-inch farther inside the casing than they should've been, and an eighth of an inch below where their far-too-large holes in the shell were located, making them less easily seen, and some of the button covers were either the wrong size or missing altogether, exposing the thin, cylindrical 'true button' within.  
   This thing was the Old B.O.B. of VCRs; ugly, mismatched and beat-up, but that only added to the charm. Chara could only imagine what the inner workings of this whale looked like.  
  
Another cubby hole contained a sleek bit of machinery, with a thin slit, just left of the center, likely for these intriguing discs that Alphys possessed. Come to think of it, the contraption looks like it was made 100% new--perhaps Alphys reverse engineered how to play these discs.

While Chara was examining the room, the kid let themselves fall over the armrest and onto the couch--their chin now rested on the opposite armrest, and part of their legs stuck out over the side. Alphys walks past them behind the couch, disappearing to another room through the door in the corner. A closet could briefly be heard opening and closing.  
   Alphys reappears with a quilt, haggard and well-worn--it's large body consisted of cross-stitches--mostly light burgundy in color, but beige fringes could be seen along it's edges, lightly bobbing as Alphys walked. The kid quickly draws it to themself as it's draped over them, and shortly thereafter give a contented hum.  
  
When the tall, skinny lamp in the corner is suddenly turned out, Chara's wrenched back to the present. They turn to see the kid already asleep, and smile warmly at the sight--the kid is curled up, breathing deeply, bunching up the quilt as they try to hold it close.  
  
\---  
  
Chara themself goes into a sort of half-sleep, their back to the wall, where even the slightest change in the vicinity can and will alert them--they've been sleeping like that for a long time.  
   That's why, whenever the kid bolts upward with a sharp breath, they stir. This alertness has it's drawbacks, as most things do.  
  
"Oh. ...Nightmare, kid?" They whisper. The kid nods. "S'alright. We need to get moving again, anyway."  
  
"Mm-mm, 'm still tired," they croak, rolling over, their back to Chara. Chara looks at their utter lack of precaution with disdain. It's a wonder they survived on the surface as long as they did.  
  
"Come on." Their agitation is plain in their voice, but it does nothing to coerce the kid into action. "If we don't go now, we won't be able to make it to Asgore before you change back," they say, voice still lightly tinged with contempt. This gets the kid's attention; Chara thinks the tone of voice helped.  
   They roll onto the floor, and free themselves from the quilt after a lengthy battle with it. They climb to their feet, and they attempt to leave as quietly as they can. The lights are out in the main room, casting it into pitch darkness once more.  
   The kid feels around with their left hand--there's the left edge of the doorway, and they were sure there was an exit at the end of the hall going this way. They start walking down the hall, lightly running their hand along the wall--along the way, they pass over another door, they think.  
  
They don't realize they're at the end of the hall until a door that is less than 5 feet away senses their presence and opens and immediately fries their eyeballs.

After the kid was no longer doubled over, vainly clutching at their searing eyeballs, they began to take in this other side of Hotland. Since it was probably four in the morning (at the _latest_ ), there thankfully weren't any misguided monsters trying to play bullet hell with them; the only things to be seen were the cavern walls--falsely tinted red by the magma filling the cavern, and various brimstone platforms, the "floors" of which consisted of orange gravel, fenced in by larger, dark red rocks. It was so quiet--faint sounds of magma burbling and elevators whirring could be heard, and when the kid would accidentally kick up a few pebbles, Chara could hear the bits of rock bouncing off the ground afterward.  
  
After what might've been a few minutes of walking through this literal volcano, the kid suddenly jumps at a surprise vibration coming from their pocket. They fumble with the phone a bit, eventually looking to see that they're getting a call from Alphys.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Oh, um, h-he-hey, hello. Um. S-Sorry, I-I'm terrible at m-making phone calls. A-anyway--I went in to check on you, o-only to f-find a b-burgundy quilt t-tossed h-haphazardly onto the carpet. But, um. W-where are you?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"D-describe your loc-c-cation."  
  
"The ground is orange with a little red here and there," they explain, looking at the ground beneath them. Alphys sighs from the other end.  
  
"A-anything _besides_ that? W-what else is there?"  
  
The kid looks around for landmarks.  
  
"Um, I passed by some squiggly line shaped conveyor belts and some pipes already." They pause to look around. "Uh...There's a square with an arrow on it," they say, walking towards it.  
  
"O-okay, just, um, don't step on th-the sq-squares until after I t-tell you what they d--"  
  
"Whoa!" The kid yelps as a burst of steam sends them sailing through the air and onto another chunk of rock directly across from the part of the cliffside they were just on.  
  
"W-well. I'm g-guessing you ju-just found out what they do." The kid nods into the phone, then adds a 'yeah' when they remember people can't hear you nod. "Um! I-if you look north you should see m-more of these 's-squares.' From there, h-head west. (P-P-PS--there's a c-compass in the phone.)" Alphys hangs up.  
  
The kid switches over to the compass app, and starts walks forward, occasionally looking up from the phone to make sure they aren't about to go careening off the side of a cliff.

A few steam valves later, and the floor is lined with pipes again. Objects that look like projectors can be seen floating perpendicular to the path.  
  
Ring, ring...  
  
"Th- _this_ room has lasers running all along this corridor, as a way to puzzle unsuspecting humans. Th-the blue lasers, y-you stop. The orange ones, you have to m-move into them, like you l-literally have to r-run into them. Thankfully, th-there aren't any humans running around--uh, b-but, um, the l-lasers are turned off...a-actually, you can pr-probably see that for yourself. Just go on p-past here. Up ahead, there are t-two puzzles where you move and shoot blocks. Completing b-both of them will un-unlock the door." Click.  
  
\---

After getting past the block puzzles, going through the door in the center, and hopping across some more steam valves, the kid finds themself in some sort of studio. Suddenly, the sound of a spotlight activating is heard from the room just beyond--they can faintly hear someone speaking. They peek their head around a doorway to find a huge rectangle speaking to a camera. The cameraman, however, looks like they're struggling to stay awake, and the studio "audience" is severely lacking. The rectangle spots them from the corner of it's monitors(?), and quickly wheels over.  
  
"IT APPEARS WE HAVE A _SURPRISE GUEST_ ON TODAY'S 'EARLY MORNING METTATON!'" The kid is frozen in place, staring incredulously at whom Chara can only assume is Mettaton. Oh, that's Alphys' entertainer robot. "EXPERIENCING STAGE FRIGHT? THAT'S FINE." The lights dim; the kid feels an odd poking sensation, and the next thing they know, they're in an easy chair, Mettaton is sitting(?) at a desk, and has somehow donned a red suit tailored to fit a rectangle.  
  
"TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF, GORGEOUS. AFTER ALL, I NEVER HAVE GUESTS AT THIS UNHOLY HOUR, SO YOU MUST HAVE SOMETHING INTERESTING TO TELL THE AUDIENCE," he says, leaning towards them, fingers lacing together.  
  
"Um, I, uh, I..." They stammer. Mettaton waits patiently as they try to remember anything from before they came on set. "Uh, uh, oh yeah! I am the 'mystery monster' everyone's been rumor-ing about." Mettaton leans back dramatically.  
  
"OH MY~, A FELLOW CELEBRITY! DO TELL~"  
  
"Well, um, I fell down a hole, and then I met an evil flower, and then I met Mama, and then I met Napstablook, and then I left the Ruins...um...then I met Sans, and Papyrus--he's my best friend--and some nice doggies, and then I met Kid, and Sans took me to Grillby's, and Kid and I walked through Waterfall--oops! Don't tell his parents that!"  
  
Mettaton, who had, up to that point, limited himself to the occasional "I SEE" or "OH _HO_ ", cuts in--"DON'T WORRY, DARLING, I DOUBT THEY'RE PART OF THIS PROGRAM'S MAIN DEMOGRAPHIC." The kid nods in thanks, and continues.  
  
"Lessee... oh yeah--We went through Waterfall, and then we got to Hotland, and I met my _other_ best friend Alphys, and I fell asleep on her couch for a bit, but then I had to get up so I can get to the king. Alphys has been helping me solve puzzles and stuff." A short, silent pause follows.  
  
"WELL, THAT. IS. INTERESTING. ALPHYS--SHE'S A STAR. IF ANYONE CAN HELP YOU, SHE CAN." He clasps his hands together. "NOW THEN, I SUPPOSE I SHAN'T KEEP YOU WAITING, FOR I HAVE MY REGULAR FEATURES TO ATTEND TO! SO! RUN ALONG NOW, DARLING! THE KING IS _WAITING_!" The lights dim again, and the next thing they know, they're outside a door that says "Stage Exit--No Entry Allowed." They look over to find Chara, who turns to meet their gaze.  
  
"Well, that was...confusing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find it kind of interesting that I've been able to string this story together as coherently as I have, even with fewer setpieces and practically zero action. I think it ties into how I believe that the best stories:  
> 1) are descriptive,  
> 2) place an emphasis on characterization, and  
> 3) reveal things about the world through the characters and how they are affected by it (a la "show, don't tell". Examples of this include Dark Souls and 1984: I'm pretty sure everything we learn about Big Brother comes from what the main guy deals with. I could get into more detail than that, but these are the end notes.)
> 
> My story has bits of all three, but mostly #2. I dunno.  
> ...  
> What do you two think?


	7. Spurring the Spider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kid continues through Hotland, comes down with a fever, and meets a miserly arachnid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Quick preface: this is the chapter with the graphic violence, as mentioned in the tags.*
> 
> Today's chapter is sponsored by: SPACE FELINE! See Space Feline defend the Earth from the invading Martian Marauders!
> 
> First order of business: more thank you.
> 
> To 7Skydragon: Thank you for believing in me and this story. I don't know if I would have continued the story as far as I have without your continued support. Seeing your positive comments and feedback has been the thing I look forward to the most when logging on (to AO3), and imagining people like you reading and enjoying my little mess of chicken scratch is one of the biggest things that motivate me to pick the keyboard up again to write another chapter.  
> I can't promise you anything, but, since summer break is (more or less) half-way over already, I'm hoping to increase my release frequency from the paltry once a week (give or take) to twice a week or more. Again, can't make any promises, though.
> 
> oh......i'm rambling again......  
> enjoy the chapter......or don't......  
> you're entitled to your own opinion......  
> oh.........

On this side of Mettaton's studio, it was a short, rocky path leading straight to a large, silver cylinder. It was an elevator, most likely, given the rectangular doorframe and the vertical split running down the door, however Chara couldn't be too sure; it _has_ been a while. The sign above the door glowed softly, the large "L1" ebbing and flowing between deep reds and soft violets. However, the elevator was not the main source of intrigue--a gargantuan, cylindrical monolith could be seen on the horizon, wavering in the distance; the Core had finally finished construction, apparently, and it was awe-inspiring.  
   The leviathan lie resting in the lake of fire, firmly rooted to the ground via enormous tubes--an unspoken dare to any willing to approach it. The bottom third of the building was warmly lit by the magma it resided in, however a majority of the construct's structure still remained hidden--shrouded in darkness, rendering it's true size unknown.  
  
The kid does a double take in the direction of the Core, and their already-slow pace slows to a crawl. They stare out into the distance, looking absolutely awestruck. In between bouts of rapid panting, a dry "wow" escapes their lips.  
  
They begin rifling through their pockets, eyes never leaving the Core, to pull out their cellphone. They shakily hold it up in front of their face, like a photographer holds their camera. However, after a second or two, they lower their arms and look down at the screen. Their quivering hands proceed to fiddle with the phone for a bit, pressing buttons with an air of confusion to them, eventually turning the phone to look at the back casing; perhaps the problem stems from there.  
  
Unfortunately, the phone has no camera lens. Their shoulders slacken in defeat.  
  
"Aww..." They continue to look down at the device for a few seconds more, then set off toward the elevator.  
  
\---  
  
The first thing they notice once the elevator door shuts behind them is the air conditioning kicking in. Chara closes their eyes, giving a contented hum at the quiet sound of cool air blowing. To Chara's right, they hear a sigh of relief, in between ragged breaths. The click of a plastic button can be heard before the panting picks up again. The kid's breathing is much more noticeable in this enclosed space; Chara opens their eyes to check on them.  
   As it turns out, Chara was right to think that the kid does not sweat in this form--well, not through traditional means, anyway; their fur is completely dry, though in this case that might be bad. The kid looks a bit nauseous, they think, as the overheated child haphazardly backs into the handrail, hitting the wall with a thud. The distinct sound of linoleum squeaking can be heard coming from the checkered tiles as they clumsily lower themself to the floor and fall into a pattern of open-mouth panting (occasionally broken up with a whine). Chara looks at them with concern, and floats to them from their side of the elevator. The kid looks up at them and whines.  
  
"Ah, man...kid, you have my condolences," Chara says. They lower themself to their haunches to look the kid in the eye. "Let's just stay in the nice, cold elevator, for the time being, until you feel better, alright?" they say. No response. Chara's expression becomes a bit more strained, and they grip their knees a bit harder. "... _alright_?" The kid whines again, breathier this time. Then, their slumped, haggard form rasps a few words in between pitiful sounds.  
  
" _Hhhn_ \--okay. _Hhnn_ \--don't leave," they whimper. Chara's expression softens.  
  
"Never." They reach around the kid's lightly shaking torso to hug them--they know the kid won't feel it, but they seem to understand the emotions behind it, given the loud, sad sound they make.  
  
\---

The cold air seemed to help their upset stomach, but it also seems to have worsened their condition. Going from literal volcano to cool lab to literal volcano to cool tv studio to literal volcano to cool autumn breeze wasn't doing them any favors, and was likely the cause of whatever self-contradictory sickness they'd gotten. Chara was mad at themself for not noticing how they were being affected earlier, and also slightly mad at the kid for not speaking up, but they knew that the kid would probably die before they inconvenienced someone with their petty problems. Staying in the elevator for as long as they did was probably only making things worse, but after Chara convinced them it was okay to rest, that gaining a little headway wasn't worth the possibility of them dropping dead halfway through, they _insisted_ on cooling off _all_ the way.  
   That had inadvertently led to their light quivering becoming quite a bad case of the shakes, apparently, because the kid vibrated as they walked through the area. Thankfully, everything was disabled for the night, and it was still _pret-ty_ early, so traps and unsuspecting monsterfolk weren't likely to be a problem for the sickly child any time soon.  
   The kid was able to pass through the whole area without a hitch, riding steam valves and crossing a conveyor belt that looked to be part of a puzzle; said puzzle involved steam valves and pressure plates. It looks like it'd be an annoyance if it were active.  
  
After that, it was a straight path to another elevator, and the sickly kid couldn't be happier to see it--their pace picks up from slogging along to a half-hearted jog. They walk in, press the button with a shaky hand, and turn around, watching the door as they wait for the elevator to open up to the next area.  
  
\---  
  
Ring, ring...  
  
"Uh, h-hey! Hello, A-Alphys here! This next puzzle's a doozy, b-but I'm here to walk you through it," the phone said.

The kid wipes their drooling mouth and manages to tear their eyes away from a very enticing, very _expensive_ donut to see a veritable maze of the steam exhaust squares, pointing this way and that. To the north and south, both sides of the rock wall were artificially split down the middle by a wide, vertical gap. The gaps themselves led to other places, places that weren't particularly well lit.  
  
"There--I-- _there_..." She seems to be struggling with how she wants to begin her statement. She sighs. "I...apologize. Th-this is the only way across from where you are," she says. Chara mutters something about Alphys coming 'strong out of the gate'. The kid guesses it's just some phrase they don't quite understand, but Chara's smart and knows more things than they do, so oh well. They walk past the concession stand, and the clerk huffs at them from afar.

"That's probably why no one but th-those who crave that Muffet girl's spider pastries use the L3 elevator," she mumbles. "But! I should be able to help. Just follow my lead, and y-you'll be able to solve the whole thing."  
  
And they did. Alphys told them just where to go, which steam valves to cross, getting them to the two remaining 'shooty' puzzles to the North and South, and finally to the opposite side of the ravine in such a streamlined fashion that Chara was actually impressed, slightly.  
  
"It was _almost_ like Alphys was in charge of Hotland's puzzles," Chara had said, before hacking up something that sounded like 'sarcasm.'  
  
\---

The kid crosses a threshold into a dark cave. There's a sudden chill in the air, but it felt something more like something causing an absence of warmth rather than the cave just being simply cold. Cobwebs lightly coated the walls, and a thick blanket of silk--consisting of webs of varying age and stickiness--lined the floor from the entrance to an unseen exit.  
  
"I heard that somebody finally came out of the Ruins," An unseen speaker cooed. Their voice kind of sounded like a violin, melodious and squeaky.  
  
The kid looked very wary, and tried to control their shaking as they crept forward--repeatedly switching between hot and cold environments like this had completely thrashed their immunity system.  
  
"I heard they don't like spiders."  
  
The slightest noise was enough to make their head snap to attention, and their apprehension only grew as the webs beneath them grew thicker and stickier.  
  
"I heard they like to tear their legs off." The source of the voice was getting closer.  
  
They give a yelp as they realize the thick webs beneath their feet are now the only things beneath their feet. The cliff that had been supporting them and the web goes no further than this, it seems, and the kid's silent panic only worsens when they find that they can't move forward at _all_  anymore.  
  
"I heard..."  
  
Suddenly, a spider lady revealed herself, dropping from the ceiling. She was daintily sitting on a silken swing that was spun to have a particular pattern, precariously stationed above the cave's seemingly bottomless pit. The kid tries their hardest not to look down.  
  
"That they are very stingy with their money," she said with a smirk, leaning in towards the kid's face. They continued to vibrate softly in place, whimpering as she crept ever closer, never breaking eye contact once as she slinks over to the bit of web that the kid was currently affixed to. The kid was up to their knees in sticky webbing now, so chances of escape (and ever getting it all out of their fur) were looking slim.  
  
"Oh dear, what kind of horrible condition are you in, dearie," she asks with mock-sympathy lacing her words. She was so close to their face now that she could hear their teeth semi-audibly chattering, though their mouth was closed. "I doubt _you'd_ be very nutritious, perhaps even _detrimental_ to one's health." The kid suddenly looked a bit more hopeful.  
  
"However, I'm sure you'll make an excellent playmate for my pet, ahuhu~" She says, menacingly. The kid starts making distressed sounds and begins vibrating in place harder and faster than before. After a short moment, their face scrunched up, and their body's constant vibrating temporarily mellows out to slight tremors for a reason that is unknown as of ye--  
  
" _IGNETCHU_!" The kid sneezes, loud and violent. Chara stalls, then laughs hysterically. They're at death's door, and this kid sneezes out what sounds like the name of some alien species from Star Wars.  
   It wasn't all that funny, really--they'd probably ask themself 'why' later--however, up until this point, Chara had gone into a state of shock. Their body had gone as stiff as permitted, nostrils flared and eyebrows raised.  
   This ridiculous sound was just the metaphorical escape route their brain needed to thaw their body, and when it presented itself, they'd already gone and thrown the metaphorical prison guards off the metaphorical trail with a convincing metaphorical dummy, and escaped on a metaphorical raft made of metaphorical raincoats.  
  
The sounds of 'ignetchu' ring all throughout the cave. Even Muffet looks perturbed. She brings her gaze back over to the kid, an incredulous glint in all five eyes. The kid's face heats up as the echos continue, ever so slowly dying down.  
  
"Gracious, dearie! I'm grateful my pet hasn't shown up yet, you'd likely have blown a hole right through 'im, ahuhuhu!" She titters, seeming to find it just as amusing as Chara had in their fit of hysteria. The kid finds little comfort in the spider's happier mood.  
  
"Of course, that adorable battle cry you call a sneeze will work as an _excellent_ summons," she said, and sure enough, legs as long and thick as lamp posts swing over top of the web, and a huge, muffin-shaped behemoth draws itself onto the meters-thick bridge of silk.  
  
It's eyes were non-existent, and as it loomed in towards the trembling child, they could see into the creature's empty sockets, black, empty holes of advanced darkness. The kid starts making small noises that become more and more terrified, struggling to free themselves as the giant, softly gurgling muffin's eyeholes continue to stare a hole in their head and be just all-around unsettling.  
   The huge muffin, upon closer inspection, appeared to made of some grotesque, tan-colored mold, it's body pulsating just subtly enough to be completely revolting, and it's maw, crooked and sharp, could not close enough to the point where it's mouth would not leak some vile, viscous liquid; a very lethal looking black-green ichor, dribbling down the beast's facade.

The kid realizes just how completely screwed they truly are; stuck in a literal spider's web, at the mercy of that cruel, cruel spider woman, making them sit in place, with an absolutely revolting creature just begging to cut loose. All the thing needs is the 'go ahead' from Muffet, and the kid's done for. The wait was pure _agony_.  
  
They look up to see Muffet nod to the 'muffin', very...slowly... she was going to enjoy this. Their terrified whining and groaning escalated into screaming and frantic pleading, and their focus jerks back and forth between their captor and their executioner. The latter has begun to rise up off of it's haunches, making a sick combination of sifting and grumbling noises as it gets into position, slowly rising to it's full height, licking it's lips with it's--  
  
"Oh, _God_ , that is disgusting--" Chara manages before doubling over and dry heaving. They briefly look up again, only to catch an eyeful of this eldritch horror's mouth, and... They're pretty sure they can't actually puke, but by the tentacles of Chargar'gothakahn, their body's going to try it's best.  
  
"No no no no no no," the kid frantically cries in terror as the creature's disgusting mouth begins to cast a shadow over them.

"I wanted to buy the spider donut! I really did, but I couldn't afford it! It's true, I'm not lying! I'm sorry, I'm--" Their inhumanly fast pleading is cut short when the muffin bears down over them and clamps it's jaws around them like a bear trap, severing their torso from their legs with a sickening 'crunch', cleaving them in two.  
  
Chara screams at the top of their lungs. The kid's blood, oh, God, the kid's _blood_ \--it's running down the sides of that, that _demon's_ blasted, stupid horrible mouth, and it's getting mixed in with the mongrel's dis _gust_ ing saliva. Chara's pupils have shrunken to pinpricks, and they clench their teeth together so tightly they might shatter. They've gone into near-shock again, and they watch the horrible, horrible beast chew them up, with a contented, ugly smile on it's face; it was _savoring_ them! 

Chara pulls at their hair, ignoring the pain it brings them; they're absolutely livid... but the moment passes, and they're hit with crippling grief. They sit down and curl in on themself to seeth. ...These _stupid_ tears won't stop rolling down their face. 

 _'This absolutely lovely, godforsaken musical accompaniment helps my mood,'_  they think in a voice dripping with honey, and a painfully wide smile creeps onto their face as they cover their ears in a vain attempt to block out the noise. The sick, low-pitched squeaking of bones being ground into powder, accompanied by wet, open-mouthed chewing, lips smacking, gurgly swallowing and _oh God_ it's looking to eat their legs now. The fur covering what's left of their body was starting to get matted down from all the blood, and their shorts--their 'short shorts', are ruined.

Chara breaks up the current of angry buzzing they had been maintaining with a choked whine when they correct themselves. They close their eyes tightly, jerkily rocking back and forth as they recall an old mantra of theirs that had just slipped their mind for a while.  
  
_You don't care, you don't get hurt._

They temporarily stop rocking as their line of thinking shifts gears.

No. Getting attached to someone was okay--the kid had shown them that many times over. 

The sounds of Muffet's depraved pet chewing up the remains of their friend by now had long since faded from their mind, becoming meaningless noise to them. They didn't make any notes, or further observations regarding the abominable creature that would've normally had them oh so curious. They didn't make any hateful remarks, or snarky comments, or witty retorts, or jokes, or quiet little reassurances to make you feel better...

Because there wasn't anybody to tell them to anymore.

They would fade away soon, and that's okay, they suppose... Maybe they'd see each other again! ... _Ha._  Chara highly doubts that. Maybe some other stupid kid'll show up eventually, and Chara'd be brought back _again_. Maybe they'd get lucky and this third kid would be a pillock.

They give a quiet, watery laugh of self-deprecation, and then dig their forehead deeper into the small nook where their thighs met.  
  
It hurts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I should have added "Chara suffers" to the tags!  
> \---  
> I started writing Chapter 7 on the Fourth', but I didn't end up finishing it until today. Because of this, I have had enough time (by which, of course, I mean 'spendable time left before the Adderall exits my system, rendering me a lazy git') to start writing Chapter 8, in addition to finishing Chapter 7 (which I probably owe you anyway for making the end of this chapter how I did). 
> 
> As you may be able to tell, I love writing, and I feel like this story has been a great source of improvement in my narrative writing. However, when in the default 'slacker' position, I generally have trouble maintaining positivity, motivation, bla, bla, (insert other-thing-wrong-with-brain-that-most-writers-(including-me)-struggle-with here), bla.  
> The best parallel to use in terms of motivation would probably be, funnily enough, Sans versus Papyrus. Because it takes effort (heh.) to actually take my Adderall, I unfortunately am Sans more often than Papyrus. 
> 
> * BUT! THIS MEANS THAT WHEN I AM PARTAKING IN THE CONSUMPTION OF MENTAL  
> * STABILIZERS, THE EFFECTS ARE MORE EFFECTIVE AND LAST FOR LONGER!  
> * ...  
> * PERHAPS TOO LONG. TWO INSTANCES AGO, I COULDN'T GET TO SLEEP UNTIL FOUR.  
> * HOWEVER! THIS DOES NOT PUT THE ADDERALL IN DISFAVOR! I SHALL JUST USE MY  
> * TIME MORE WISELY WHEN NEXT IT HAPPENS! NYEH HEH HEH!
> 
> I love writing Papyrus. His positivity rubs off on you :P
> 
> EDIT: I spent too long working on a part of this chapter that I didn't even end up keeping in. Confound it.


	8. Walking the Other Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone in the chapter's a sad sack at some point except for Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, Chara. Now you can go back to making fun of other people for being angsty.

Chara was curled in on themself, floating nearby where their recently devoured partner stood moments before. They felt sick, they felt angry, they felt rage, but on top of that, they felt sad, for multiple reasons.  
  
Number one: they'd lost their host. They could already feel themself disappearing; they could feel their emotions slowly fading into grey, unchanging static as they threatened to return to the void, but that just made Chara all the more determined to feel everything with all their heart.  
  
Number two: they'd lost their partner. The kid was so close to Asgore, so close to freeing everything, and then that greedy, miserly insect sacked that horrible, terrible bag of mold on them, and it cut them clean in two--clear, horizontal, right above the waistline! Didn't the mangy harlot realize she had just cost everyone their freedom, all because the kid couldn't afford a blasted pastry?!  
  
Oh, no, they had accidentally made a play on words. Sans might be proud.  
  
Number three: they'd lost their friend. They'd admit it--they'd finally warmed up to the kid. Initially, they'd only talked to them to get the kid to move forward, or give info on an enemy to show off how smart they were, or because they thought of something that clearly needed to be shared, and the kid was the only one that could hear them (besides Napstablook, but that ghost didn't seem all that fond of Chara).  
   However, as time went on, and they learned more and more about the kid, they began to genuinely care and show concern for them. While it might've stemmed from not knowing their own strength as the wolf, they nonetheless had made it their mission to never hurt, something Chara lacks the strength for. They were so compassionate, and had so much love to give. (Chara closes their hand into a tight fist as their lip quivers.)  
   They truly were a monster among humans, and that had Chara nothing short of flabbergasted. They had suffered so much at the hands of the terrified, stupid filth that occupied the surface, and they had, so much power, at their disposal, and yet...! If Chara'd had that much power at their disposal, they...well.  
  
Chara thought of something funny.  
  
They chuckle at the thought, but it comes out as a sad choke. 'Not much point in thinking about that now,' they think, as they continue to fade.

They close their eyes, and wait for the darkness to take them.  
  
...  
  
_¿Que?_  
  
They're roused from their festering cesspool of deteriorating emotion by something... odd. They felt... out of sync... for a moment.

Chara opened their eyes. They were outside the purple cave--where that blasted spider was likely watching her 'pet' savour the kid's bones--again.  
  
A blood-curdling shriek cuts through the air. Chara goes stiff as a board, eyes wide as saucers, their heartbeat racing. Their head snaps in the direction of the unholy, seconds-long screech, hoping to find the source of it. What sort of creature makes a noise like  _that?!_  
  
The kid was there, sitting upright and clutching at their chest, their eyes wide with fear and confusion. They're still panting, still shaking with fever, still _alive_.  
  
Chara flies to them like they're a sailor returning from a long voyage at Sea. They hug at the kid with all their heart, and proceed to silently cry their eyes out.  
  
Chara goes full stop when they feel the kid return the embrace.  
  
"I can feel you," the kid says excitedly, before drawing them closer. Chara thinks about what they had just bore witness to mere minutes ago, and they hug the kid even tighter as their eyes begin to leak anew.  
  
"I--you _died_ , kid," they said. Their voice was being muffled by the kid's sweater.  
  
"I know. That was really scary." Their shivering gets more prominent for a moment. "I don't want to go back in there," they say. The kid backs out of the hug to look Chara in the eye; their cheeks are flushed, and have tear stains running down them.  
  
"I, uh... a-ha ha," they chuckle, looking off to the side as they pause to wipe their eyes. "Just...if you...came up to me a year ago, and told me I would go on to cry like a baby over the death of a human, I'd probably laugh in your face." The kid giggles, and Chara smiles warmly at the sound. They lean in to hug them again, reaching their arm up to start scratching the kid's head. It'd be a few more minutes of reassuring themselves that the kid was not, in fact, dead, before they'd be willing to let go.  
  
\---

"How did you get that to work? I thought you said you were a 'per-jec-tion' of something," the kid asks, after having spent the last few minutes resting their chin on top of Chara's head.  
  
"In that moment, there was nothing I wanted to do more, so I guess my 'body' gained some semblance of physicality to fulfill that," Chara replies as they sit on the kid's lap.  
  
The kid presses their nose into Chara's hair and hums.  
  
"I hope it's permanent," they say, wrapping their arms around Chara's torso.  
  
"Me, too." After a moment, they add: "What are we going to do about Muffet?"  
  
"I'dunno. Die a lot," the kid says.  
  
"Don't even joke about that." Chara lightly grasps the kid's forearm with their left hand.  
  
"We could go back to the lab, see if there's another way."  
  
"Alright," Chara says, shimmying out of the kid's loose hold on them. The kid's shaking picks up again.  
  
"Nooo, come back, you're so comfy," they pretend to complain before getting up. The two set off, this time in the opposite direction of the cave where Muffet lies in wait. Chara grins widely at the thought of how disappointed and miffed she'll be when they never show up.  
  
\---  
  
After some trial and error, they found the right pattern to get back across the ravine. They fought the conveyor belts' current; they quickly retraced their steps throughout all of Level 2, but backwards. They surreptitiously snuck back in and out of Mettaton's studio, wherein something was going on that involved a chef hat, pancakes, and a chainsaw. Even in positions where it might've been impossible to backtrack, the kid was determined to find another way.  
  
Looking back, Chara doesn't think giant killer muffins were on Toriel's list of things the kid's increased physical strength would allow them to better defend themselves against. They might've been able to punch it's lights out or something, but they were really scared, preoccupied with being stuck in the web, and also they're too soft, Chara thinks as the kid approaches the lab once more.  
  
The door opens for them as it picks them up on it's sensors.  
  
"Alphys? I'm back!" They yell out. Somewhere out of sight, a loud, wooden 'thunk' can be heard, followed by an 'ow.' After a moment, a small yellow lizard appears from some other room.  
  
"Y-you're back? W-why? D-d-did you reach a dead end?"  
  
"You could say that," the kid says with a blank expression. Chara makes an exasperated noise.  
  
"Um. I d-didn't want to mention this to you e-earlier, b-because I was afraid you would get mad at me, b-but before I called you that f-first time, I went out the front door, t-to see if you were out there? And there's an elevator that leads straight to where you wanted to go?"  
  
Chara screamed into their cheeks.  
  
"D-don't be too angry with me, p-please. I...I'm so useless. I-if my memory wasn't so terrible, then y-you wouldn't have wasted your time l-like this. I..." her eyes start to tear up a little bit, but she quickly takes off her glasses and wipes them away.  
  
The kid's expression steels; they know what they must do. They quickly lean down and hug Alphys, telling her happy little nothings to cheer her up. She laughs once, and grimaces as the tears come back.  
  
"You are useful. You're brave, kind, helpful, passionate, and interesting. You're my friend, and I love you for who you are," the kid whispers into Alphys' ear-- Chara rolls their eyes. She promptly returns the embrace and buries her head in the crook of the kid's neck. After a few seconds more, her arms fall again; the kid backs out and rises to their full height again.  
  
"Thank you. I, I think I needed to hear that." She looks up at them with a small smile. "I...know we've only known each other for a while, but. You...before I met you, I didn't like myself very much, and I still don't, really, but you gave me the chance to be helpful and use my skills for something besides helping Mettaton, which I'm thankful for."

"Dude, you were the best guide--well, except maybe Kid--I couldn't 'a solved any of those puzzles as fast as I did without you, which really helps, since I ended up not going that way and also I'm running out of time, so it's good that I had you. And..." Their eyes briefly flick up to Chara. "It was lonely out there, so it was nice to have someone to talk to," they say, kicking at the ground.  
  
"Ah, ha...well. I...guess you should be on your way, then, right? Ha ha." Well, that just makes it awkward.  
  
"She's right, though," Chara says. The kid hugs Alphys goodbye and heads out the front door. After she hears the door shut, Alphys quickly scurries after them, and stops at the doorway, yelling out to them.

"I-it's directly to your right when you come out the door, so you're already close! Just head up there to the R3 elevator! I-it only goes two places, so you can't miss it!" The kid gives a thumbs-up, and watches her re-enter the Lab before heading up to the elevator.  
  
\---  
  
The elevator hummed quietly as it moved up to it's destination. Fluorescent lights lit the less-than-reflective checkered tiles below their feet. The shivering kid shifts idly.  
  
"Do you think we should poke our head through Muffet's other door, just to make fun of her," they say, leaning to their right a little. Chara angrily punches their right bicep. "Oww-wuh..." They whine, rubbing at their mild injury. Chara tightly folds their arms. The elevator goes back to near-silence.  
  
\---  
  
The elevator opens with a ding, and sure enough, about a two-minute walk from here is the exit to Muffet's cave. The kid looks at Chara. It seems they've noticed it, too. They absent-mindedly wrap their arm around the kid's right bicep--a far cry from the elevator ride.  
  
They continue walking, and, wanting to avoid going in any direction that led to Muffet, turn right at the earliest opportunity. In front of them, something that resembled a city skyline could be seen all around them. The jewels in the ceiling twinkled like stars, and the kid immediately was both amazed and appalled.  
   Trying to survive in the city had been hard even when they looked like everyone else. There was something visceral about them that just seemed to put everybody off. To the people in their village, they were a bad omen. They had also been spotted a few times in wolf form, but thankfully the 'bad omen' hadn't been singled out. They were relieved that, in the city, they could relax somewhat, because in the 'modern world', nobody believed in werewolves except for crazies (and everybody who'd ever taken care of them for long enough); if they got lucky, someone who tried to off them 'for the safety of mankind' (for the billionth time) would be tried for attempted murder. Usually, though, it was their fellow homeless folk trying to slit their throat under the cover of night, so their only hope was to try and escape. They tried their best to avoid human contact altogether.  
  
They look back down again to see a happy hotel with 'MTT' emblazoned on the front. This part of the building was pretty small, but these brick walls with the lovely trimmed hedges seemed to block off the rest of the building from the world. A long, red carpet leads from where they stand to the glass double doors leading into the hotel. They give a glimpse into what lied just beyond: an extremely yellow hotel lobby. A crudely made sign catches the kid's eye. It advertises 'high quality garbage', and points towards an alleyway to the right of the hotel.  
  
They peek their head around the side of the building to find a poorly made curio stand, populated by a green alligator monster and a purple cat monster... They're both asleep. The cat's tail twitches when a fly tries to land on it. The kid decides to leave them be, and ducks back around to the front of the building, and nearly die of a heart attack when they see Sans, only a few feet away, facing directly towards them.  
  
"heh. nearly made you jump out of their skin." The kid briskly walks over and crouches down to hug him. "knock it off," he says, with only a tinge of annoyance, lightly pushing them off of his head. They back up and look down at the skeleton. His hands have returned to his pockets, and his expression is back to it's natural lazy-eyed, grinning state.  
  
"Sorry. I just really like hugs."  
  
"anyway. i was wonderin' if you'd like to grab a fancy dinner."  
  
"I don't know if I have enough time...hmm..." They think about it for a moment. "Aaaokay. Sure."  
  
"great. thanks for treating me," he says with a wink. "don't worry. i know a shortcut." They take his hand and trail along behind him.  
  
(That's funny. The kid could've sworn this alleyway was a dead end.)  
  
\---

Sans led them to a quiet, secluded little restaurant in the corner of the resort. It was kind of dark and musty, with a few wooden crates in the corner. The floor tiles were a checkerboard pattern of maroon and navy blue, which looked simply lovely in this nightscape lighting. Various oil paintings lined the walls. Some were framed, and others looked like they had seen some water damage before being rescued. And there, towards the bar, was a little steel wireframe table--woven similar to that of an outdoor deck table--covered with a plain white tablecloth. A tall candle burned brightly in the center of the table, illuminating the otherwise dark room.

"after you, m'kiddo," Sans said, closing his eyes and bowing, gesturing to the table. The kid cracked a smirk. They took his gloved hand and led him over to the table, which--given his sleepy expression--he didn't seem to mind.

They're glad they get to rest their aching feet, if only for a bit. Now if they could actually get some food at this restaurant, that'd be really great.

"so. how's it goin', kid. i take it you're still plannin' on getting outta here," he says, folding his hands beneath his chin; his jaw does not rise and fall as he speaks, which is kind of disconcerting. The kid doesn't seem to mind though--they're busy running the texture of the table over between their pointer finger and thumb, drinking in the atmosphere with a smile on their face.

"No, not really," they reply. Sans cracks an eye open briefly.

"well, if ya don't plan on leaving, why'd you come all this way?"

"To hang out with you, of course," they say with a sly grin. Sans chuckles warmly, which causes Chara to relax a bit. After a moment, he brings up an old topic.

"y' 'member the 'little skele-bird' i told ya 'bout?"

"Yeah."

"well, i got a little story for ya. do ya also remember m' station in snowdin, over by where we first met?"

"You weren't very spooky."

"heh. anyways, i didn't always work that station. 'n my first time walking to it, off in the distance i spot a door--the same door you came outta. that first day, didn't think much of it. i figure, 'hey, i'm a busy guy, i got plenty of work' i gotta _ketchup_ on.'" The kid giggles a little bit.

"after a few days of nothin' whatsoever happening at that station, though, i decided i'd just use my time spent at that station for somethin' better--practice. i would sit at my desk and rap on it a couple of times, then tell a bad joke. simple enough, right? but i thought to myself, not very authentic. that's when i remembered the door. i go on over there, and knock on the door, instead. if you got the materials, a literal door at your disposal, and nothin' to do, well, might as well, right?" He shifts in his chair and opens his eyes. A flicker of enthusiasm can be seen in them.

"one day, though; i've already delivered twenty or so _knock_ -outs, and i'm on the next one. i go 'knock, knock', and right when i start to say 'who', somebody beats me to it. 

"'Who's there?'" His voice magically raises two octaves, and takes on a more feminine tone. Chara didn't know skeletons could do that.

"'dishes.'

"'Dishes, who?'

"'dishes a very bad joke.'

"'n she just howls with laughter, like it's the funniest thing she's heard in years. after i tell a couple more jokes, she knocks on the door. 

"'Knock, knock.'

"'who's there.'

"'Odelayhee.'

"'odelayhee who,'" he says, trying to stifle his laughter. His giddiness has a wistful quality to it; it's clearly a very fond memory.

"'Oh, I did not know you could yodel!'" Sans makes exaggerated hand gestures, eyes wide as "she" attempts to finish the sentence without laughing. The kid giggles loudly, but it's being drowned out by Sans' hearty belly laugh. (Chara sighs fondly at the sound--when the kid arches a brow at them, they quickly put a hand up to their mouth, and look away with an embarrassed, wavy smile on their reddened face.) Once Sans has calmed down a bit, he regains his composure, letting the curtain fall again.

"a-heh-anyways. we kept that goin' for a good long while, but eventually i told her i had to get home to m'bro--he gets ornery without his bedtime story--but i promised her i'd be back the next day. so that's just a thing we got goin', now, just telling bad jokes through a huge-arse door. as if her levels of charisma weren't enough to keep me comin' back, she's also loaded with puns. it's the best." After a moment, his eyes lose that spark.

"one day, though, i noticed she wasn't laughing very much. i asked her, 'what's eatin you, lady? i had a right smashing ming vase joke all prepared.' and then she throws me a curveball.

"If a human ever comes through these doors, promise me you will watch over them, protect them." Sans is giving Chara some _very_ mixed feelings.

"now, i hate making promises, because then you gotta keep 'em, but somebody who honestly likes bad jokes? just has an integrity you can't say 'no' to." He pauses.

Sans looks like he's preparing something.

"but do you get what i'm saying, kid," he asks. Chara starts looking around, suddenly very wary. Something was off.

"you know what would'a happened if she hadn't said anything?" 

The tinnitus is setting in.

 *****     Y o u ' d   b e   d e a d   w h e r e   y o u   s t a n d .

Sans' eyes are deep, black pits, sucking in every scrap of light and happiness, and the darkness is closing in around them and Chara's field of depth is changing why is this so terrifying?!

And just like that, it was over. The room looks as it did before that last... terrifying, couple of seconds. Sans has his head leaned back and his eyes closed, a bottle of ketchup to his teeth.

Chara isn't sure if they dreamed that, but they're pretty sure it was real, because they've broken out into a cold sweat.

"That's my Mama, you know." Sans chokes on the lengthy drink he'd been taking--ketchup flies out from behind his teeth and dribbles down his chin. It looks like he's just coughed up blood, Chara notes.  
  
"uggh--goo-hood grief--i thou-hought you said you were hu-hoo-man," he says, knocking his fist against his sternum.  
  
"I am, though! I'm just a _special_ human." They push their chair back, climb to their feet, puff out their chest, flick their head out to the side, place their hands on their hips, and finally, spread their legs apart a bit to complete their heroic pose.  
  
"uh...yeah," he says, looking directly at their doggy snout. A second later, the kid's shoulders slacken, they turn their head back to look for their chair, and they sit down. They scoot their chair back over to the table via a series of small hops--the metal legs scrape against the floor loudly. Once back at the table, they dramatically point at Sans' face, and state with confidence:  
  
"I've been down here since yesterday evening, and I'm not here to escape! I'm gonna use my soul to break the barrier, an' free everybody!"  
  
"why did i take a second sip."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And all it took for Chara to stop being such a flippant bugger was to see their best friend die right before their eyes.
> 
> Chara, if someone came up to you a year ago and told you you'd go on to cry like a baby over the death of a human, you wouldn't do anything because you'd still be dead at the time.  
> \---
> 
> I didn't think I had it in me, but I finished most of this chapter while in default lazy git mode. If I look back on it in Papyrus mode later on and determine that it sucks, I'll see to it that it's improved.
> 
> Also, I think I'm getting closer to figuring out how to write original dialogue for Sans while still being in-character. I've yet to nail the personality, but I've got the speech patterns and things covered.
> 
> EDIT: Yo, yo, yo, Ziggy--er, 7skydragon! I fixed the Sans part to be less shite! Lemme know if there's anything else in this chapter that needs polishing!


	9. Storming the Lobby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kid reminisces about various experiences they had on the surface,  
> and we see them exploit Chara's newly acquired physicality. 
> 
> Warning: a ton of self-indulgent Chara petting incoming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for a filler episode~?!  
> No one, eh?  
> Too bad!  
> OHH YES~
> 
> In other news, be prepared for...absolutely nothing of importance to happen, except maybe Frisk and Chara unknowingly strengthening their bond as friends.
> 
> This chapter serves as a break from the action and getting some practice in for descriptive writing.

After they and Sans said their goodbyes, the kid managed to find their way back to the hotel lobby. The sudden increase in brightness hurt their eyes a bit, but once they got used to it, they were able to take in the lobby's finer qualities. The checkerboard tiles lining the floor had traded in their maroon and indigo for a no less lovely gold and pastel yellow, they note as they walk. The tiles were shiny enough to the point where you could make out all of the fine grooves and scratches etched into them over the years.  
  
Following the tiles with their eyes led the kid to a large puddle. They lift their head, and are met with a large stone statue of Mettaton, standing atop the center of a much older looking fountain, happily spewing water out of it's open smile--that's not anatomically accurate, they think. The water is being spewed so powerfully, however, that it's sailing clean over the fountain's boundaries and pooling on the floor, soaking part of a red carpet. They look over their shoulder, and yes, it is the same red carpet they saw leading into the building. They turn back around, planning to examine the fountain some more.  
  
They walk about the circumference of the fountain, running two fingers along it's walls; it's very bumpy, yet worn with age. They eventually remove their fingers when the abrasive texture starts to irritate their skin, and absent-mindedly suck on the fingertips while looking over a bronze plate, which looks to have been recently restored--they can spot some dullness around the edges of the otherwise shiny plate. And what have we _here_? Oh! The plate seems to have a little brother beneath it!  
   The second plate, unlike the first, is not affixed to it's own separate stone carving, jutting out a ways from the fountain's front, but to the fountain wall itself. It's made of a similar-looking material, but anybody who looked closely enough could see it was not as legitimate as the original plate, so to speak. It looks significantly cheaper in comparison. Wait. There's an inscription on this plate, too. It's written in a small, serif font, similar to, but not exactly the same as the original plate's.

The first plate said the fountain is for the Dreemurr memorial, and was erected some time ago.

...

The second says the Mettaton statue was added within the last week.

The kid can feel themself getting aggravated with Mettaton for desecrating a landmark like this, but they know there isn't much to be done about it. They peer into the water to take their mind off it. Coins of varying sizes are scattered across the smooth, grey stone lining the bottom--this fountain is really old. Their eyes change focus, blurring the image of the coins, to rest on their reflection.  
  
They run furry hands, black as coal, through a thick head of hair, dirty brown, like ancient brass. The reflection lifts an arm and strokes it's chin, moving it's head to see how the glossy, silver fur on their face catches the light. The fur is shorter on their face than the rest of their body, and feels good between their fingers. The kid flares their nostrils; a dark, leathery nose at the end of a silver muzzle mimics the action. They sneer at the sight, and their reflection bears it's fangs at them in kind. They can see their reflection's eyes flicking back and forth, mirroring the real thing, as they examine themself; brightly burning circlets of green, boring into them. Green like jungle leaves. Green like a snake. Green like poison ivy. Green like envy.  
  
Ha, ha. They're a green-eyed monster.  
  
They grasp at their arms and rub either bicep with their thumbs, suddenly looking very self-conscious and apprehensive. A quick gust of air leaves them--it rages against the water's surface, dispelling the image and rendering the reflection distorted. They watch the water ripple for a moment, then promptly spin around and sit on the fountain wall, leaning forward to rest their chin on open palms.  
  Chara, having watched the whole thing unfold from an arm's length away, sees this as an opportune moment. They walk over to where the kid is ruminating, and sit beside them on the fountain's edge, all without making a sound. They let themself fall to the right, and their head softly lands against the kid's ribcage. They close their eyes.

The kid's eyes angle back at Chara, and they sigh; the movement of their large torso causes Chara to visibly rise and fall along with them.

   After a few moments of watching Chara rise and fall with their breaths, the kid suddenly feels a bit stiff, so they lean back, shifting their hands to rest on the damp, worn stone wall's edge. Their elbows lock in place, supporting their large frame. Chara did not see this sudden movement coming, however--their eyes open wide in shock as they feel their head gaining speed, slipping down and off of the kid's large, bony, soft, comfy ribcage. They fall over sideways, and all of a sudden chin-length Auburn locks bunch up against the kid's right thigh. It takes a moment for the shock to wear off and their body to relax. Once the kid can feel that Chara's breath has calmed down, they shift the rest of their weight onto their right arm.  
  
Chara breathes in sharply when the kid's left hand suddenly encompasses their head. The hand pauses at the sound--then, when Chara finally exhales, the hand begins to stroke their hair. The hand is large, and kind of meaty, but delicate and warm, and oh so careful. They quietly hum in acknowledgement, and roll over, somewhat--enough to re-expose their right ear to the world. Their hair falls over their head, with rogue strands of hair sticking off in various directions. The kid continues to nimbly run their hands through, gently combing the hair back as they continue to stroke them.  
   Chara brings their legs up onto the fountain, curling up into a ball against the kid's left leg. The two of them sit together, listening to fountain water flow, bellhop carts, filled with luggage, running over speed bumps, the clicking of a typewriter, and the gentle hum of an elevator in use. They know they have to move on again, soon, but it'd be so nice to stay here and take it all in.  
  
If there's one fond memory the kid has about the surface, they think as their fingers glide through Chara's hair, it would be the night they could afford to stay on the second floor at the motel. They remember sitting outside their rented room for a while, listening to the soft whirring from a nearby soda machine, the chirping of crickets, cleaning carts wheeling along, echoing to them from other parts of the balcony.  
   As hyperactive as they know their body to be--they were probably bobbing their knee up and down or grinding their fingers against their raggedy clothes that whole time sitting there--they love the feeling of serenity, and, coming back to reality, they realize just how lucky they are right now, to be able to relive that memory again, and they hope that what they're doing currently is helping to create a similar memory for them. They smile slightly, in spite of themselves, and give Chara's head a soft skritch before going to smooth their hair back over. Their smile grows just a little bit as they savor this moment, becoming a soft, warm grin.  
  
They feel so lucky to be here.

\---

The kid began to grow a bit anxious as the minutes wore on, and eventually they plan to change their left hand's job from calmly stroking a restless Chara to lightly pushing a resting Chara; their breathing had become slow and deep after some time, and the kid didn't have it in them to wake them right away--they looked so pretty when they slept.  
  
They untangle their hand from the disorderly auburn silk that adorned Chara's head, and reel it in somewhat, reaching over to lightly push at their arm in an attempt to rouse them. Chara gasps loudly, rapidly moving to an upright position, and when they see where they are, they begin to panic, scrambling to free themselves. They'd let their guard down, somebody's come to kill them, get away get away!

The kid lightly holds them down, careful not to crush them, trying to remain calm.  
  
"Shh... shh, it's alright...you're okay, you're safe..." They say to their wildly thrashing partner, continuing to whisper sweet little nothings in that same vein into their ear. They'd picked up the technique from one particular instance during their stay with a previous caretaker.  
  
They'd awoken to a short scream coming through the wall, followed by crying, the opening of a door, and a second voice entering the room. They'd climbed out of their own bed, walked out into the hallway, and peeked their head through the door. Inside the room, they could see their housemate--'adoptive sibling' was a bit of a stretch--being cradled by his mother. She had her arms lightly wrapped around him, slowly rocking back and forth, giving him little repetitive reassurances that didn't really have any substance but still served to calm him down. He eventually fell back asleep in her arms, and they remember watching them rock together for a while after that, before heading back to their own bed, where a crescent moon had just peeked out from behind the clouds.  
  
It was a good ten seconds before Chara stopped trying to free themself, twenty seconds before they stopped making panicked sobbing sounds, thirty seconds before they fully realized where they were, and fourty seconds before they finally calmed down. They are currently lying on their back, draping the kid's arm over their stomach, gazing up at the ceiling.  
  
"I'm sorry you had to see that. It's been a while since I had one of those," they deadpan, looking straight ahead.  
  
"It's okay. I get them sometimes, too. Even if I know it doesn't make any sense, I still feel really scared. It's dumb," they reply, looking down at Chara, who has an arm draped over their forehead.  
   They shift in place, signaling Chara that they're getting up. Chara climbs off of them, allowing them to climb off of the fountain. They feel really stiff, so they pause, quietly grunting as they stretch out their arms, legs, and back. Chara swings their legs over the side, and push off of the fountain, but begin to hover in place, instead of falling to the ground.  
  
The two follow the red carpet up to an open gateway, where a soft blue light shone in. They walk out onto a large bridge made of metal scaffolding. Nothing can be seen when facing left or right; if anything at all is there, it's drenched in pitch black darkness. Far, far below, the magma at the base of Hotland glares up at them. The kid shivers, and grasps the handrails with a worried look on their face. In front of them, a large doorway lit by a small red orb looms. As they inch closer, the door opens--they can see inside, and in that moment, their fear is forgotten. They revise their posture to stand as tall as they can, and turn to Chara.  
  
"Is the country prepared to go to CORE, captain," the kid asks in a serious tone. Chara, hand up to their mouth in thought, turns their head slightly, meeting their steely gaze with a bored expression--the entire left-hand side of the kid's body is tinted bright blue by the invading light source.  
  
"That was terrible," came the reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise stuff will happen next time, but I feel like Frisk and Chara needed a bit of a breather, and Sans did nothing to help Chara's freshly galvanized paranoia. Plus, this chapter was really fun to write. I had a ball describing the fountain (because I'm boring) and writing out a couple glimpses into some of the good things Frisk remembers about life on the surface.
> 
> Something in here might fall flat, and if it does, I'll try to fix it.
> 
> ...
> 
> see the joke is the title sounds really cool and stuff but nothing action-y happens whatsoever.


	10. Escaping the CORE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk and Chara learn about the Core's 'security system' the hard way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter than some of the previous ones have been. I apologize. However! I might come back to this one and elaborate on certain aspects. But for now, here's this thing.
> 
> Edit: Celebrating 500 views (:O)

The kid has come to the conclusion that the Core is cool to look at. Soft blue light illuminated everything from overhead, causing the top of everything to shine a bright cobalt, and down below, beneath the handrails that lined the walls, yellowy-white lights shone up from between thin, rounded gaps in the steel plates on either side of the halls--they assumed this was the air conditioning, because nothing else is ever shaped like that--illuminating the...interesting molding on the walls.  
   Everything above the handrails looked a normal wall, albeit with some red dot-sized lights, ebbing and flowing while making quiet beeping sounds. Below the handrails, on the other hand, the wall was a series of indentations and embossments, which, given the dark burgundy color, reminded the kid of... freshly tilled soil, and they didn't like that, because where there's tilled soil, there's growing crops, and where there's growing crops, there's a farm, which makes money selling the crops to the store, which doesn't want to give up the crops to hungry kids...  
  
The kid looks away from the soil-esque wall, and tries their best not to think about farms.  
  
Chara is also avoiding looking at the wall, but for a different reason. To them, the walls look like intestines, and the fact that those little white lights in between the floor grates make the intestines look they're moving, and that reminds them too much of the cave where--  
  
Their thoughts are interrupted by the kid suddenly stopping.  
  
"Haven't we been here before," they ask, glancing up at Chara with a nervous expression.  
  
"I don't think so," they reply. Just in case, they'd better pay close attention--memorizing the patterns those red lights make on the walls should help them keep track, they hope.

...  
  
They continue to walk through the halls, trying to find an exit of some kind. The only things they can hear are their feet, hitting the metal floor with quiet 'clang' sounds, distant whirring coming from within the walls, and quiet beeping coming from the small red lights on the walls.

...  
  
Uh oh, another dead end, the kid thinks to themself. Um...let's take a look around. Is there any telltale sign as to where they are? ...No. No signs, no landmarks... no exit. Well, this is just great.  
  
They groan in frustration, and turn to Chara.  
  
"Dude, we're totally lost."  
  
"We're not lost, we just haven't yet found the proper way out," Chara tries to say with confidence, but the slight hysterical tone in their voice betrays them.  
  
"Uhh...ooh; try flyin' around, see if you can find the exit!"  
  
"Good id--oh, no, wait--I'm tethered to you, as you recall? I'm not wont to go further than twenty feet away from you--I shudder to imagine what would happen if I got too far away." The kid's shoulders sag in defeat, momentarily.  
  
"Got any ideas?"  
  
"Well, we obviously can't find any way of discerning one part of the Core from another, so we're just going to have to hoof it and hope we find the exit in a timely manner."  
  
"Okay..." The sound of clawed feet hitting metal flooring picks up in volume and frequency as the kid starts to stride through the maze. Chara's glad they can fly, because they don't think they could keep up with the kid's long legs.  
  
"Turn right," Chara shouts as they come up on a turn. The kid turns right, running alongside a guardrail that overlooks the incredibly viscous, white-hot magic flooding the inside of the core. Chara can't even see the edges of the building, it's so big, but they can see huge, room-sized metal cubes above, below, and beyond them. Just before the view is obscured by darkness once more, they swear they could see some of the metal boxes moving, exchanging places with another room, actively changing the layout of this stupid building.  
  
"Oh, bugger me!" Why couldn't they have just stayed in the nice, quiet lobby?

Chara turns their head back towards the kid when they can no longer see the fustercluck of boxes outside, just in time for another crossroad decision to be made.  
  
"Turn left!"  
  
The kid follows orders, turning down another corridor. They'd bother to decide for themself, usually, but they were already seriously pressed for time and it's not like making the decisions themself would find the exit any quicker or easier, so might as well.  
  
They keep running as fast as they can for what feels like forever, passing through individual rooms so quickly that the molding on the walls has become a meaningless blur, and the glowing red fairy lights are little more than brief flashes of color. When they hear a direction being shouted at them from behind, they turn. Hear a shout, turn, hear a shout, turn. It just keeps going, and going, and never stops. They can't keep this up forever, and they're absolutely sure they've been in this particular room before.  
  
"Right!" The kid drives hard to starboard, and before they have time to see process the new room, their foot meets open air. They draw a sharp breath, and put all of their weight onto their remaining foot.  
   Trying their best to not fall into the void, wobbling back and forth on the edge of the precipice. They make a miscalculation in their efforts to right themself, however, and their heart sinks as their body begins to lean the wrong way. They scream into their mouth as they feel their other foot slip, and their stomach lurches forward as they begin to fall.  
  
Suddenly, a hand grabs their sweater collar, and forcefully yanks them backwards, flinging them back into the previous room. They lie still for a moment, then prop themself up on their elbow. A new room is floating into position, filling the gap. They sigh loudly, shuddering in relief.  
  
"Thank goodness you're alright! You could've fallen into the void!" They let themself fall onto their back again, and look directly up into Chara's eyes, filled with anger and concern.  
  
"Yeah. ...you didn't have to pull on my neck so hard, though," they complain, rubbing at their neck.  
  
What are they talking about? They only just got here--the kid was already there, lying on the floor.  
  
"...Let's keep moving."  
  
"...Allll...right..." They share an uneasy glance as the kid climbs to their feet.  
  
If it wasn't Chara who helped them, who was it?

\---

The kid is slowly trudging forward, on the edge of fatigue. They've been walking through the Core for what might very well be literal hours, and they're just about sick of seeing the same decorum in room after room after room after room after room, after room, after room......  
  
............  
  
"Wake up!"  
  
The kid startles awake, and glances around to find that they have mysteriously migrated to the floor.  
  
"Hmm?" They're so tired.  
  
"Come on, we're close now, I know it!"  
  
"Mm...hmm..."  
  
"Come on," Chara growls, lightly kicking at them.  
  
"Mm!" Their face scrunches up in agitation momentarily, but they continue to lie on the ground.  
  
"Come on!" Chara reaches down and vigorously shakes them.  
  
"Mmmmmmm..." Their voice wobbles up and down with the movement.  
  
"Get. Up." Chara's voice is dripping with venom.  
  
The kid finally starts to climb to their feet. Once standing, they begin to shift idly, trying not to fall over again.  
  
"I'm sorry," they mumble, apologetically.  
  
They begin to shamble forth again, wobbling left and right as they struggle to maintain balance. They're so tired. They just hobble forward, in a straight line, never altering course--just keep going, just keep walking forward, fall into a rhythm, make your legs keep moving. Ghost friend's telling them...somethin'...they hope it's 'yes, please, sleep.' They're so tired.  
  
They stumble over their own feet. They're so tired.  
  
They begin to lean against the handrail. So tired.  
  
Slide down, slowly, fall into a heap. Tired.  
  
Smash face against something that isn't a wall.  
  
What is object...?  
  
They reach an arm up, running their fingers over a familiar smooth metal? What do they know of that feels like this?  
  
An elevator.  
  
Yessssss...  
  
They don't feel Chara lifting their hand up to press the elevator button, or being dragged into the elevator.  
  
They don't hear Chara swearing as they throw out their back, either.  
  
All they feel is that coasting serenity of fatigue-induced sleep.  
  
Ahhhh...  
  
...  
  
The kid is lying there, laid up against the floor panel, sleeping. Pitiful.  
  
The elevator speaker makes a sound, and the door opens to... another part of the Core. Chara grinds their teeth together, but knows they must be close. They have to be. They have to.  
  
They kick at the kid's thigh. They grunt, and slowly climb to an upright position.  
  
"Ow. Wha' yoo doo wan'...?"  
  
"We're almost there. Just a little more, I promise." The kid frowns deeply.  
  
"Uh don' wanna. You go loogout there, see 'f, there's a thing." They wave Chara off. Chara rolls their eyes.  
  
"How helpful," they say before peeking out and around the elevator door, looking for signs of an exit. If there's an elevator running through it, this part of the place must not move around like the rest of the building...right?  
  
They turn back around, grab the kid, and shake them again.  
  
"Go away."  
  
"No. Not until you get us the devil out of this blasted funhouse."  
  
"Fine. But if I die from tiredness, I blame you." Chara helps them to their feet, and leads them by the hand through the facility.  
  
This second floor seems to not be shifting at all. They even doubled back a couple of times to make sure the rooms were still there, and they were. Finally, a stroke of good luck. Chara continues to lead the kid along, searching for an exit, for a while longer, before something wondrous occurs.  
  
"Oh. Oh. This is it." Chara's knees go weak as they shudder. A door. The first one in forever, it feels like, and it's sporting some design straight off an Aztec pyramid.  
  
"Wake up, this is it! The exit!" They shake the kid's arm excitedly, and rush to drag the kid over there. The two of them stride right past what looked like a dramatic stage, and out another door, treating the walk down this final hallway like a victory lap.  
  
They don't even care that this new area is so grey and bland, they're just so glad to be out of that, that... 'Core.'  
  
"Are we out," the kid asks, groggily.  
  
"Yes, yes, we're finally free!"  
  
"Cool." The kid gives a thumbs-up, and promptly drops to the floor.


	11. Nearing the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kid gets judged, pines for bread, and meets a king.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're(wolf) nearing the end! I'm probably gonna post the next chapter within the next couple of days, too, so keep an eye out.

New Home, or at least what they could see of it, is very grey, and kind of depressing--it makes the kid kind of sad when they take it all in, but they're not sure why. Grey bricks that seemed to extend upward forever made up the walls, and looking out, and seeing all the grey (admittedly quite samey-looking) buildings far below, made the kid suddenly aware of the possibility that they were inside Castle Dreemurr.  
  
They're still tired, but thankfully they had been allowed a short nap after getting out of the Core, so they were able to walk for a while yet--the ground felt like smooth, polished stone, and the kid felt kind of bad for maybe scratching it up.  
  
At the end of the pillar-laden hallway was a junction, leading down another hall. This new hall seemed to stretch on for just as long as the previous, but unlike the first hall, you couldn't see any of the pretty pillars or medieval-looking buildings. Only a dark tunnel is located here, which is kind of lame, and a little disconcerting, they think as they cruise on through.  
  
What's this? A cute little house lies in the midst of this little grassy area just beyond the hall. It's kind of grey, and washed out, and depressing, but it feels like it _could_ be homey, they guess. Something about the house reminds them of a place they'd been before.

Come to think of it...  
  
"Mama?" Suddenly, it clicked. The kid ran forward, excitedly, crossing the threshold and dashing indoors. Oh, wait, this can't be right. Toriel's house had color, and warmth, and felt like it could be a home. _This_ felt like a temporary living space that just so happened to be permanent.  
  
Glancing to the left, there was a reading chair, a dusty-looking rug, an empty, blackened, soot covered fireplace, and an old, grey bookshelf. Glancing to the right, a long, somber hallway, lined with another, longer, ornate carpet, stretching all the way down. The interior of this place was like a dusty mirror image of Toriel's house--grey, old, tired.  
  
"Where's the passion?" It felt sad.  
  
Chara taps their shoulder, and points at a chain with a couple locks. Upon reaching the chain, the kid stops for a second to feel the texture of the lock. It's kind of bumpy, like the water fountain's walls. They only hold it briefly, however, for fear of catching tetanus from the slightly rusty metal. They know you only catch it when you get rust into an open wound, but they're not taking any chances.  
  
They step over the chain, and promptly head down the stairs, ignoring Chara's protests. While they _are_ feeling better, they're still too tired to deal with Chara's griping. Exploration, mm-hmm, yeah, 's real great...  
  
Now, in front of them, another path lies. Similar to the first area they saw after exiting the Core, this hall got a bird's-eye view of the city below, just beginning to start the day's activities. Down below, one building looked to be turning it's sign on, and a fine mist is rising from what looks like a bakery.  
  
"Mmm... bread." The kid grips the handrail with increased fervor, drooling at the thought of getting their paws on some of the starchy goodness.  
  
"No, we don't have time for bread. Keep moving."  
  
"Aw..." They turn away from the handrail, and sulk off towards the next room, slowly trudging down the expansive hallway. The sounds of feet stamping and claws clacking against the ground can be heard echoing all down the path.  
  
\---  
  
The kid's talons lightly scraped along the golden tiles as they crept forward, trying not to mar their surface with scratches. The sounds of two sets of footsteps barely even echoed, neglecting to bounce off the pairs upon pairs of marble pillars lining the hall. Something akin to glorious sunlight shone in through three colorful stained glass windows, illuminating the tiles with multiple colors.

Suddenly, someone appears before them.  
  
"So. You finally made it. The end of your journey is at hand. In a few moments, you'll meet the king. Together... you will determine the future of this world." They know that voice, they think, as they stare the shadow down.  
  
"But that's then. Now, you shall be judged. Judged for every single EXP you earned." Doesn't sound like 'EXP' is a good thing, whatever it is.  
  
"But it could've come in handy," Chara whispers.

"What's EXP? It's an acronym. It stands for 'execution points.' A way of quantifying the pain you have inflicted on others. When you kill someone, your EXP increases." Well, they were right about it not being good. What the heck, ghost friend?  
  
"When you have enough EXP, your LOVE increases." Oh, they recognize that name! It was supposed to make you strong, right?  
  
"LOVE, too, is an acronym." Wait.  
  
"It stands for 'Level of Violence.' A way of measuring someone's capacity to hurt. The more you kill, the easier it becomes to distance yourself. The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt. The more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others."  
  
Oh. As if the underlying animal instincts weren't enough to make them want to hurt... and kill... and maim, a-and reap, and tear! Tear the flesh clean off--!  
  
"but you...you never gained any LOVE. but you did gain love. does that make sense? maybe not." Their questionable line of thinking is interrupted by Sans' voice.  
  
"Sans, you old dork." They feign disapproval, but really they're just glad they aren't thinking about devouring gazelles anymore. They need to get a sandwich or something.

"if you refuse to fight... asgore will take your soul and destroy humanity. but if you kill asgore and go home... monsters will remain trapped underground. what will you do?  
  
"...heh. i think i already know the answer to that question. 'course, gotta remember, kid, it's completely up to you. and whichever choice you make, i gotta feeling it's gonna be the right one. i'm rootin' for ya, kid." The kid feels like their field of view is being screwed with, all of a sudden. It's not quite nauseating, but it's making it awfully hard to see straight. They're sure he's causing it.

"oh, and, i prefer 'youthfully impaired', thank you." Wait, that sounds like a closing remark! Wait, they wanted to say goodbye!

"Sans, wait!" It was too late. By the time their head cleared, they were alone again.  
  
They begin to walk towards the exit, but the closer they got, the more they lost their nerve, slowed their pace, until eventually they were at a standstill. They stand there, in front of the pitch-black exit door for a few moments longer. Butterflies flutter like mad in their stomach as they try to build up the nerve to continue forward, past that dark entryway just ahead, that entryway that gets darker and darker, more and more ominous the longer they look at it.  
  
Chara lightly pushes against their back, prodding them forward. They sigh heavily, and cross the threshold, into a grey, washed-out corridor, beginning the death march to that which they feel might just be their demise.

Surprisingly, the first door leading out of the corridor that they spotted was the entryway to a garden. It was well tended to, clearly; a miniature field of golden flowers, pristine and bright. A slight draft had them lightly bobbing back and forth. The kid smiled in spite of themself--even though sunlight was still a good ways away, the flowers stood as brightly as ever. It was enough to quell their current anxiety, if only for a moment.  
  
"Is someone there?" They freeze, and suddenly the flowers' beauty is not enough to hold their fear at bay anymore. Their breathing quickens, and their eyes widen out of fear and shock, but they stand their ground; they were the hero. They had to break the barrier. Even if they didn't get to live to see it.  
  
They quickly bring a sleeve up to their left eye, and bring it back down even quicker when their right eye spots an enormous caprine behemoth pass through the door opposite to where they stood. Oh, no, it's looking right at them--!  
  
"Hello there! You're up awfully early, aren't you?" He chuckles. It's a low, rumbling sound, warm and rich. "I'm just here to give the flowers their morning watering. It requires getting up early, but, seeing as I don't get much sleep these days, it's not much of a hassle." Suddenly, his warm smile turns to an inquisitive one.  
  
"I am terribly sorry, but, er... what kind of monster are you? I'm afraid I cannot tell," he says, bending down to begin watering the flowers.  
  
"Uh... the people didn't really have a name for whatever I am, I guess. I was always 'the monster' or 'the wolf,' so I guess... the... 'wolf'... kind," the kid says, watching the large man as he tends to the plants, occasionally looking into their eyes to let them know he is paying attention. He chuckles at the last comment, following up with a jolly 'indeed.'  
  
"Would you like to discuss your business over tea? I am almost finished here, already, and any business that would have a child like yourself up at this hour must be urgent."  
  
"Yeah, that sounds cool, mister."  
  
"You may call me Asgore, my child." The kid's eyebrows rise at that, but otherwise continue to idly shift in place, watching Asgore finish up on the flowers' morning water. After a moment, he rises to his full height again, and walks over to the kid, gesturing to his cape, as if to say 'grab onto this in case you are afraid of getting lost.'  
  
"Uh..." Like Papyrus, he only has a few feet on them, but his imposing presence makes that difference in height seem much larger. They have to work up the courage to ask their next question. Asgore watches the visibly flustered child, a patient smile gracing his lips as he waits for them--they'll speak when they are ready.  
  
"C-could I stay here and wait for you, instead--please," they add, hastily. They don't want to disappoint anybody or make them go to any unnecessary effort, and they can tell Asgore's a nice guy. He's still going to end up fighting them eventually, though, and they don't want to waste what little time their wolf-ly strength has left.  
  
"I-I don't wanna bother you or anything, so, um, I can go if you want me to, but, I-I... like the flowers," they stammer, lowering to a mumble at the end. Suddenly their toes look incredibly interesting.  
  
"It is no trouble at all," he says in a patient tone. "In fact, I know just the thing." He raises a finger for emphasis, and promptly strides over to what must be his throne, his fabulous violet cape billowing behind him mesmerizingly, bending over to pull a tea set out from behind the throne. As he walks back over, he grabs the watering can, as well.  
   He then decides on a spot to make camp, lowers to the ground, and begins pouring water from the plastic watering can into the tea kettle. As he pours, he looks back to them, raising his eyebrows and gesturing to the ground with his head, implicitly asking them if they wished to sit in the flower patch. The kid startles once they understand his meaning. They quickly tip-toe over to where the king rests, and sit across from him. The tea set is the only thing between them and their would-be killer... their mouth suddenly feels very dry.

It's a good thing he's preparing a drink, then, eh? Ha-ha, ha...

Their mouth presses into a thin line as they watch Asgore take a golden flower, prepare it for use in the tea, and put the usable bits into the kettle. He then picks up the kettle with one hand, and with the other, brings forth a small white flame, and begins to heat the kettle with it. The kid's eyes widen in surprise--they didn't know that could happen.  
  
After he's sure everything is going to plan, Asgore focuses his attention back on the kid.  
  
"Now then, while we wait... what is so important that you felt the need to come straight to me, rather than, say, your local guardsmen," he asks calmly, keeping his eyes on the flame.  
  
"I...I-I know how to break the barrier!" Asgore laughs good-naturedly, the motion causing the flame to waver.  
  
"Really, now? I do not, I am afraid. What is the secret, my child," he asks, half-joking, half-serious.  
  
"U-uh..." They get all flustered, but an idea hits when their eyes drift to the kettle. "Can I tell you after the tea's gone? I'm really thirsty." He nods, as if to say, 'of course, of course.'  
  
They sit there quietly for a while yet, waiting. The sound of flames flickering has been joined by the occasional birdsong when a high-pitched squeal comes from the kettle. Asgore cuts the flame, and pours the tea into the cups. The kid stares intensely at the liquid as it cascades downward into the basin, and wait until Asgore raises his own cup, before they immediately grab at their own and greedily take a drink (didn't want to be rude). Asgore only manages an urgent "don't!" before the tea makes contact, burning the inside of their mouth.  
  
They feel their eyes go wide as saucers and loudly squeal into their mouth. They somehow manage to swallow it, and quickly begin fanning the inside of their mouth.  
  
When they've sufficiently quelled the raging fire in their mouth, they note the look of concern from Asgore when they promptly take another drink. Thankfully, the tea had plenty of time to cool during their recovery period, so the second sip doesn't burn them. Unfortunately, the first sip seems to have seared most of their taste buds off, because they're not really tasting much.  
  
"Are you alright? You shouldn't have taken a drink so soon, or, at the very least you should have blown on it beforehand," he says, his voice full of concern.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Tastes good," they say in between sips.  
  
"Er...right... A-anyways. About what you came here for-- you said you knew of a way to get past the barrier." He pauses to take a sip. "And, since it's within the common knowledge that we're already nearing a literal breakthrough with our... current solution, I am to assume you mean to propose an alternative." He takes a sip. "You must forgive me when I say that I am quite dubious of this claim." After a moment, he takes a drink. "As king, I cannot afford to take any chances, you understand."  
  
"Well, I was, um, thinking y--we could, u-um, use my soul..." The king raises an eyebrow from behind his teacup. "Y-yeah!... Um, it's really powerful, I think. Wanna see?" They were slowly but surely getting comfortable talking with Asgore, who suddenly chokes a little bit on his tea.  
  
"Child, you should not be going around...erm, offering to show your soul. It is a very personal thing, you know."  
  
"But a crapton of people pulled out my soul in the Ruins and that snowy forest! Why nowhere else?"  
  
"I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly?" Asgore would normally scold the child for their vulgar speech, but in this moment, his attention was focused elsewhere. "Did you say 'the Ruins?'"  
  
"U-Um, yeah...?" Their face, full of confidence just moments before, has fallen back into apprehension. Confoundit, he was too forward. Now they've clammed up again.  
  
"Oh. I am sorry, child. Forgive me if I came off as too forceful. But, perhaps I shall take you up on your offer." Then he can see if his suspicions are correct. He hopes he is wrong.

"Okay. People tugged it out so many times that I can remember how they did it, so... lemme see if I can do it myself," they murmur, looking down at their chest. They close their eyes, draw a breath and hold it there. Their face is tensed with concentration.  
   Suddenly, a sort of crunchy, 'meow'-esque sound can be heard; the child's face relaxes at the sound. They open an eye, looking down, and quickly thereafter open their other eye, grinning proudly; a soft, red light is shining up at them, accentuating their features, making their beaming smile literally shine.  
   Everything in the immediate vicinity is casting a long shadow on the walls, and the whole is being tinted red to some degree, all by a small, bright object, hovering in front of the child's chest. They have their hands cupped around it, and are grinning madly.  
  
"What?" Asgore isn't sure what he's more surprised by: the object floating before him, the curious situation of the 'monster' holding it, or the fact that said object was a bright, burning, red.  
  
"...Human." His tone of voice broke their concentration, casting the room into darkness once more. He could see how their face went from awe and wonder to fear and apprehension, darkening just as quickly as the room had done. It made Asgore's heart sink, remembering just how many times he'd seen a child wearing that expression.  
  
"You know what we must do," he says, somberly. After a moment, they nod, slowly, biting their lip to keep it from quivering. Asgore rises to his feet, and as he towers over them, they blurt out,  
  
"I don't wanna die!"  
  
"It is alright if you are not ready. ...I am not ready, either." He looks towards the exit, behind the throne.

"Follow me when you wish to get this over with." With that, he strides off, cape waving behind him, and disappears beyond the door, leaving the kid behind, alone in the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Home is kind of boring if you ignore the buildup associated with it.


	12. Toppling the Tyrant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young wolf fights an old goat. Hilarity ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Action scenessss. 
> 
> I thought this would turn out worse than it did, but I think I'm happy with the Asgore fight. In this chapter, we learn that the kid is well-versed in popular culture, due to having lived with so many different people.

Before them, a wide expanse presented itself. A low, resonant humming could be heard, and for what looked like miles, white pulsed into black, black pulsed into white, and every shade of grey between them.  
  
"This is the barrier. It is what keeps us all trapped underground." Asgore's back was to them, and he spoke matter-of-factly, trying to ignore the context of this meeting.  
  
"Do you r-really need to kill me, for my soul to help break the barrier," the kid stammers nervously.  
  
"Unfortunately so, child. I wish it was not so, but, alas..." He pauses.  
  
"This is your last chance to back out... I won't hold back, but... I'm not wont to be the initiator, either."  
  
They don't want to fight, but they're not just going to sit there and take it.  
  
"Ah...alright. Let's f-fight."

Asgore exhales heavily, and suddenly a large, glowing trident erupts forth from his regal garb, exposing his gilded armor to the light for hopefully the last time.  
  
They aren't expecting it when Asgore springs into action. He makes a mighty swing with the trident, and it cuts clean through them. They open their eyes to find it hadn't damaged them, and look up just as the trident changes back from blue to red.  
  
The kid feels like it's their turn to attack. With a heavy heart, they swing their claws in a downward arc, slashing at Asgore's armor. He hums in slight agitation.  
  
Next, a flurry of fireballs comes fluttering down towards them. It takes a lot of zigzag motions and dodging to avoid getting burnt, but they manage to escape with the occasional patch of singed fur. Smells like burnt hair.  
  
They leap forward once more, slashing Asgore's hand. He grunts. The smell of blood reaches their nostrils, and their pupils shrink to pinpricks as they find themself salivating. No! This is wrong. But they can't help it. They shiver as they realize how good it smells. Their breathing picks up.  
  
He throws another volley of white flame out at them. They know what to expect this time, though, and get by much easier. The kid lurches inward, ducking down to avoid the fire, and land another strike on him. The scraping of claws against metal can be heard.  
   They lick their lips when some of the blood leaking down Asgore's hand falls onto them. They hum in contentment as the liquid, rich in iron, reaches their tongue, sweet as honey. Soon after, though, the kid shakes their head--they shouldn't do that.  
  
His trident glows blue and orange as it sweeps forward and back, threatening to cleave in two. The kid holds their head down as it passes over them, and their hair is brushed out of place by the gust of wind that follows in the massive object's wake.  
  
They take another swing, this time at his legs. They manage to shake him, but his hold on the ground is solid as stone. An immovable object.  
  
Rings of flame surround them, encircling them, creeping inward. However, there are gaps in the incendiary obstacles. They find themself hesitating multiple times as the first ring approaches. Several opportunities to slip through come and go as it continues to spin, getting closer, closer--the ring is shrinking.  
   They get burnt when they can't push themself to go through it. The little taste they got from that lick of flame gives them the extra incentive to dash through the remaining circles' gaps as soon as they can, and they do so gladly, preferring not to get toasted again.  
  
The kid's train of thought keeps drifting back to the scent of blood every time they're given a moment to think. They want to shout at Asgore to heal up, but they know he can't do that, they're in the middle of a battle! Stop smelling so tasty!  
  
Claws lash out, striking his legs again. He stumbles. Now we're getting somewhere.  
  
The first swing of the trident is a bit off kilter, a bit cumbersome. Interesting. They continue to sprint and stop as needed, already planning their next attack even as their limbs carry them out of harm's way.

Putting their plan into motion, they suddenly break out on all fours. They bring their head down, narrowly ducking Asgore's trident. Taking a page from Sonic Unleashed--they don't yet have the time to recognize the parallel there--they dig one foot into the ground harder than the others, mimicking a move they remember having to use in the Africa level, in order to make a rough U-Turn, while also maintaining their momentum. This has them suddenly rocketing towards Asgore, and they don't even have the time to reconsider this decision before they're upon him. They spring into the air, and hit Asgore's chestplate dead-center, denting the armor. The large king gives a sharp cry as he topples over, losing his grip on his trident. The kid ricochets off of the armor, crashing into and sliding across the floor, away from Asgore. An earth-shaking rumble resonates through the chamber.  
  
Asgore lies defeated on the floor, ragged breaths escaping his lungs; the king's cape slowly follows it's owner, fluttering gently downward to rest beneath him.  
   A series of metallic clinking can be heard; the kid turns their head to see the king's crown bouncing across the floor, eventually coming to rest at an angle. The crown's jewelry is facing the ground, twinkling and darkening along with the barrier's pulse.  
  
A deep, rumbling groan sounds from nearby. The kid's head jerks over, planning to address the source of the sound. Asgore is struggling to get up. He puts a stop to his maneuvers momentarily. He lurches forward, coughing loudly. Blood is ejected from his mouth.  
The kid startles, and runs over to him. They look down at the weary-eyed king, taking in his somber expression, watching as blood dribbles down his chin (they don't feel tempted this time, though, because they know you should never drink something that's been in somebody else's mouth). Their gaze follows the speckles of blood to rest on the armor. His chestplate is caved in where their winning blow had landed.  
  
They reach a hand out to the wounded monarch. His expression turns to one of surprise.  
  
"Even... after all that, you choose... to show me mercy? You are an interesting case, child," he says as the kid helps him to his feet. He turns his attention to them, smiling warmly. "You would rather remain here, trapped underground than risk harming another?" His smile weakens. "You are stronger than I for that.  
  
"...I promise, for as long as you remain down here, my wife and I will take as good care of you as we can. We could be like a family." The kid smiles from ear to ear, and wraps their arms around Asgore.  
  
A circle of small, white, seed-shaped apparitions surround the two. They swoop in, slicing through the wounded king. The pressure beneath their hands evaporates as Asgore turns to dust. They're too shocked to respond properly. They just stand there, gazing down at their hands, coated with the remains of someone that might one day have been called 'dad.'  
  
"Hey, thanks for wearing the old man down. Made offing him that much easier." At their feet, a lone, smirking flower has sprung from the ground. They just look at it, their arms still out in front of them as they try to get a grip on what's happening.  
  
"While you were scuffling, I got a hold of something neat. Human SOULs! Six of them! Ain't that something? And now, I'm going to absorb them, and with their power, I'll overpower you, and take yours, too! I'll become a god, and go on to rule over this world." It winks up at them. "And I couldn't have done it without you!"  
  
Before their eyes, six heart-shaped, ethereal objects appear in the air, and begin swirling faster and faster around the flower. The sound of it's maniacal laughter fades from their mind, as does everything else, all falling victim to the void.

\---

They can't see. They can't feel anything or hear anything, either. Maybe that's because there's nothing there? No, they can detect something. They can smell it. Smells like pollen, ichor, and ashes.  
  
A large CRT monitor ignites. A face appears on it. The face grins. It's eyes widen horizontally, revealing green sclera. Suddenly, everything flares to life. Jungle, plant matter. Smooth, pink (rubber?). Thorns. Vines. So many teeth. Laughter. Laughter. Laughter. All around them. Stop it.  
  
As soon as they finish the thought, it stops. No time to be grateful, though. Before they have time to think. White. Searing, white-hot. Agony. Death.  
  
(A large CRT monitor ignites. A face appears on it.)  
  
...Revival?  
  
More laughing. It starts again. Thorns. Stabbing pain in their soul. ...Flames. Fire. Searing. Burning. Melting. Suffering. Death.  
  
Again. Stinging; Hornets? Chains? Plants... Sirens. Red. Warning? Static.  
  
Gloves (Boxing?); fists. Pain. They feel the need to ACT.  
  
The kid is given a helping hand. They let the cool feeling wash over them. ...Something's drawing them back.  
  
Evil. Pain, pain, pain... lasers, fire. A jerky feeling. Did they rewind again?  
  
Lasers... fire. History repeats itself. Warning...  
  
Shoes, threatening to stomp them. Stab at them. They're cutting it close. ACT.  
  
They feel serene. The shoes have stopped their advance. The soul seems content.  
  
Pulsating silver tubes are going out. More loading. More death. Warning.  
  
The kid doesn't know if they can keep going, the way things are going currently. They aren't given time to brood, though, as knives are currently coming for them. They think it's time to ACT.  
  
Bandages come to patch them up. That feels nice. They don't want to go back.  
  
Fire... thorns. Bees. Pain. Warning.  
  
Surviving is getting easier, and these brief reprieves are letting them recover from the sensory overload that is the eldritch flower, they think as they avoid multiple words with negative connotations. Words hurt, purple soul. Time to ACT on that.  
  
Their spirits are lifted by all of these positive feelings. They're filled with hope. They can survive.  
  
Burning. White, spinning seed-shaped objects. Lasers. Flamethrower? Static.  
  
These are getting easier to make it to, they think. Greasy bacon fires are attacking them (or perhaps their stomach). ACT.  
  
What a coincidence. They're kind of in the mood for eggs, actually (certainly beats a grease fire). They're delectable, even if they're green.  
  
The flower's strange, techno-organic body is making sounds like trumpets blaring. Guns flaring, missiles launching, hornets buzzing. If they could feel their body right now, they'd cover their ears to try and block out the noise. They miss Papyrus. They miss Sans, and Alphys, and Mama. They miss ghost friend.  
  
A massive gun is primed and ready to fire. They barely have time to dodge the incoming bullets. Look out! There's the opportunity to ACT! Did the gun shoot it at you? Perhaps the souls are just as unwilling to fight as they are.  
  
Something's different. The tubes have stopped pulsing. For the moment, all is silent.  
  
They feel a warm embrace, a triumphant swelling in their chest. It reminds them of all they have to lose. They are determined to win!  
  
Attacks have resumed firing off at them, but this time, they're on the offensive. Their chance to ACT comes up more and more often, and the elder god seems to be suffering higher and higher amounts of damage. The souls are slowly breaking it's...Flowey's(?) grip, and are helping them defeat the demonic flower, periodically healing them whilst they're on the attack.  
  
"What's going on," Flowey booms. He sounds troubled. "This can't be happening! Noooooo--"

The world stutters. Flowey's TV monitor now features an extremely smug expression. Oh no.  
  
They wish they had enough time to scream, but he just keeps setting the world back, so he can kill them, over, and over. He eventually comes to a point, leaving them alive long enough to encircle them with large, white seed-shaped objects, mirroring their initial meeting.

"Go ahead! Call for help. I dare you. 'Mommy, daddy! Help me, I'm scared!'" His condescending tone reverberates through their skull. They try to take in a breath-- they're not sure if they even have lungs.  
  
"Help me," they shout, as loud as they can without outright screaming. They're careful not to make their tone of voice too wimpy, though. The flower's enjoying this too much as it is.  
  
...But nobody came. And Flowey goes wild in the eyes.  
  
He sends out one of the huge seeds. They brace themself for the pain... but it never comes. In fact, they feel _better_ than they did. Looking at Flowey, they find that he seems just as confused.  
  
They can feel him trying to roll time back, but nothing is working. The souls appear before them, and begin to encircle the flower at rapid speed. He's shifting through every color they can perceive and more, warping and twisting as the souls strip him of his stolen power.  
  
"No! You're supposed to obey me! Stop it! Stooopppppp...!"  
  
......  
  
They can feel their body again. Asgore's dust is spread across the ground... and there, less than a few feet ahead of them, is a small flower, haggard and broken.  
  
"Ugghh...... kill... me," he rasps.  
  
"No." His expression becomes less tired and more exasperated.  
  
"Kill me! Do it, you idiot!"  
  
"No." Looks like your philosophy was wrong, bee-yatch.  
  
"I'll come back. I'll kill you."  
  
They say nothing.  
  
"I'll kill everyone you love." His expression has become a manic grin, lined with cracks.  
  
They fold their arms.

"I'll kill. Everybody."

They stare at him.  
  
"I don't understand. ...Why?" They stare more intensely for no reason in particular--not that anybody could tell, given that they always looked like their eyes were shut.

"...I can't understand." His face scrunches up, and he frowns.  
  
"I just can't understand!" He looks like he's about to cry.  
  
...Flowey ran away.  
  
They look back to the pile of ashes that was once their would-be father.  
  
"I think you can fix that." A voice rings out from behind their ear. They turn around, and angrily berate Ghost friend for being conveniently absent for quite some time, now.  
  
"Remember Flowey's rewind ability? You used it too, back when... you know." They look off to the side. "Anyway, I think you can go back. 'N save Asgore."  
  
"Okay. How do I do that?"  
  
"I dunno. Try...? Sorry. I know that isn't very helpful."  
  
They make a placating gesture to show them it was alright, and squeeze their eyes shut in concentration. They can hear ghost friend's voice.  
  
"Picture when you met up with Asgore outside the barrier. Remember every detail."  
  
They can see it in their mind. The barrier. Asgore, still alive and well.

They raise a hand, and touch a finger to nothing in particular.  
  
"I wish I could go there."  
  
They feel their consciousness rip free from their body, moving to somewhere else in time at break-neck speed.

\---  
  
"Are you ready," Asgore asks them.  
  
They smile at him.  
  
"Nope!" They say, happily, and take off running, waving to him as they leave.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll be back," a jovial call echoes from the garden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you can figure out the reference Frisk made toward the end, you will win absolutely nothing, other than a kindred spirit.


	13. Crossing the Threshold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone comes together and has a pow-wow, OR: The werewolf senses the time, morphs back into a small child, and says hello to the sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are-wolf. Thank you to everyone who read this story and thought it was worthy of their time. 
> 
> Now that this story has reached it's end (just in time for school), my upload schedule might tank again (which wouldn't surprise me), but it also might not, who knows. I might even go back to that Zelda fic I started several months ago. It depends.
> 
> I definitely want to explore the Wubbulous World of Wolfrisk some more, though, through future additions to this series, and, failing that, it's already extremely likely that I will start up an askblog (I'll link to it once it happens) once my artist's tablet comes in.

In the wee hours of the morning, not much is to be heard in the system of caverns. Most of the Underground has yet to rise from their beds. A small percentage of people are just beginning to wake, preparing to face the day. Then there are those such as the kid, currently sprinting down the open halls of Castle Dreemurr, who have been more or less awake all through the night.  
  
"So, um, what's the plan, exactly," Chara asks, as they trail along behind the speedy child. "All we've accomplished is reviving Asgore and proving to Flowey that the six souls can't help him defeat you, so..."  
  
The kid fishes their cell phone out of their pocket, beginning to press buttons as they near the elevator to the Core. Chara grimaces at the thought of having to go through there again. The kid screeches to a halt in front of the elevator door, the same thought crossing their mind.  
  
They bring the phone up to their ear in response to a sudden clicking sound from the other end.  
  
"HELLO!" The kid quickly pulls the phone away from their ear. Their grimace quickly turns to a grin, though. The sheer volume of the voice would permit anybody in the immediate vicinity to hear both ends of the conversation, and that means the kid could've only called one person.  
  
"Hi, Papyrus!"  
  
"WHAT IS IT THAT YOU REQUIRE, FRIEND HUMAN? I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF PREPARING SANS' BREAKFAST SPAGHETTI," he informs, enthusiastically. It certainly sounds like it--a faint bubbling sound can be heard from the other end.  
  
"I DOUBT HE COULD BE BOTHERED TO EAT IT RIGHT NOW, THOUGH. HE'S CURRENTLY NAPPING. AND HAS BEEN. FOR AN INCREASINGLY ASENINE AMOUNT OF TIME." He hums thoughtfully.  
  
"I don't suppose you'd like me to come over and um try that spaghetti, would you? I mean, I still haven't tried it yet."  
  
A strange frequency starts emitting from the phone. They look down at it in confusion for a moment. They realize that it was Papyrus quietly squealing when the noise cuts out, being replaced by the sound of Papyrus trying to play it cool.  
  
"AH, ER, OF COURSE! I HAD A FEELING YOU WERE ONE TO SAMPLE THE FINER THINGS IN LIFE. NOW, UH, NORMALLY, I HAVE ALL MY MARINARA MASTERPIECES ON BACK ORDER, BUT FOR A CLOSE FRIEND, I CAN MAKE AN EXCEPTION! NYEH HEH HEH!"  
  
"You're the best, Papy," they say, already wondering what's in store for them.  
  
"WHY YES, THAT IS TRUE, BUT DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT! YOU HAVE MANY REDEEMING QUALITIES!"  
  
"Thanks." Chara taps their shoulder, and points at the elevator door.

"By the way, um-- I'm, uh, stuck in Asgore's castle." They fidget in place.  
  
"STUCK? HOW SO? HAS YOUR PANT LEG GOTTEN SNAGGED ON A WEED? WAIT, NO, THE KING KEEPS HIS GARDEN IN PRISTINE CONDITION, THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN."  
  
"And I'm wearing shorts. Uh...! But that doesn't matter! I mean I'm stuck 'cause I don't want to go through the Core again," they explain. "It was too hard and took forever last time. Stuff kept switching around." That, and they almost died, but, best leave that part out.  
  
"NYEH? HUMAN-- FORGIVE ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT I DO BELIEVE IT IS PAST FIVE THIRTY. THE CORE WILL HAVE SETTLED ON A LAYOUT BY NOW. ...AH, HOW I WISH TO HAVE BEEN IN YOUR SHOES. THE ULTIMATE PUZZLEER, FACING OFF AGAINST THE ULTIMATE MAZE!"  
  
"Thanks, Papyrus! I'll see you soon, okay?"  
  
"I AWAIT YOUR ARRIVAL WITH OPEN ARMS!"  
  
The call ends with a beep and a depressed button. The kid lifts their gaze to the elevator door, and exhales heavily, running their thumb over the cell phone's smooth, plastic surface.  
  
"It's time for World CORE Two, baby," they say, whirling around to point a pair of finger guns up at their companion. Chara rolls their eyes, trying not to smile at the showy display.

\---

Chara makes a sound of disgust once their eyes meet the all too familiar interior of the Core. They know what Papyrus said, and they think they believe him, but there's that nagging doubt at the back of their mind that is worried the Core is still shifting. There isn't enough time left for another entire trek through this blasted place.  
  
Come to think of it, why are they doing this? Why go see Papyrus when they need to focus on the barrier? Well, they already defeated Asgore, so the time limit can fall to the wayside, they suppose. They hum. Well, they have some time. Perhaps they can think of a way to get past the barrier while the kid looks for the exit.  
  
They could give up their soul. No, the kid needs their soul to live, so that's out of the picture. Chara has a soul at least somewhat, right? Maybe they could use that? No, they don't have a soul anymore, and resurrection doesn't really sound all that plausible.  
  
Oh, they're on the first floor again.  
  
Maybe they could-- no, waiting for another human to fall down would take too long. Maybe the monsters are the key? Maybe the magic of every monster, combined with the souls?  
  
Monsters...souls... Monsters' souls.  
  
The plaques in Waterfall. 'It would take the soul of every monster just to equate to one human soul.' One soul. They have six, so they'd only need one more! That's it!  
Ooh, but wait. How would they get the souls to work without utterly erasing everybody? Kind of... defeats the purpose...hmm...  
  
Oh, good, there's the bridge leading into the hotel lobby.  
  
"Woah!" Chara shouts from out of nowhere. The kid flinches, stopping halfway across the bridge. They turn around, cocking an eyebrow up at them.  
  
"Ah, er..." They can feel their face warming. "I was surprised to see the staggering amount of progress. I was zoned out for a while, you see. Spotting the lobby brought me back to the here and now, is all." The kid briefly nods in understanding before turning back to the beaten path.  
  
"Man, this place brings back some nice memories," the kid muses as the two of them pass through the lobby, walking around the fountain to follow the red carpet. The golden tiles beneath them show a tinted reflection of the ceiling.  
  
"Mm-hmm," Chara hums in reply, a hand to their chin. Their pointer finger taps against their mouth thoughtfully. They remember how relaxing it felt to have the kid run their big furry hands through their hair, sighing at the memory.  
  
As if in reply, they feel something tug at their free hand. They look down to see the kid has taken Chara's hand in their own with a grin on their face. Chara returns the smile, and soon the kid is moving again, lightly pulling them along like a balloon.

It was nice, not having to feel the heat of Hotland. Of course, when the two exit the R3 elevator, they're met with a blast of hot air. The familiar blistering, nauseating, annoyingly high temperatures were not missed.  
  
"Oh, hey, it's Alphys," the kid says, pointing at the lab where said lizard resides. "Should we stop and say 'hi?'" Extra pressure is applied to Chara's hand, to further drive home that they're trying to grab their attention.  
  
"I don't care. Either course of action will get you out of this heat, and by extension, me, so, again, I don't care."  
  
"Well, she might be asleep, actually. Let's keep going."  
  
\---  
  
Crossing that wooden bridge (which strangely was still not on fire) was just as harrowing as it had been the first time, but the return trek through Waterfall was relatively uneventful. There were a couple of close calls in relation to sleeping citizens (some kind of muscular seahorse was curled up in a patch of grass, and they very nearly tripped over it. With biceps like those, the kid reckoned they should leave it alone. They knew not look a gift seahorse in the mouth), but otherwise it was a quiet, peaceful journey (the kid also thought it was kind of boring, too, but they didn't want to hurt Ghost friend's feelings, so they didn't say anything).  
  
Now, they are nearing what they're certain was... the river? With a boat and some guy on it?  
  
They warily approach the hooded figure. The navy blue cloth completely obscured the person's face, presenting them with a featureless, black void.  
  
"Tra la la~... Greetings, traveler. What is your destination?"  
  
"U-uh, the, the, snowy place," they say, completely weirded out by the rather tall, enigmatic figure.  
  
"Climb aboard," they offer, slightly swaying but not actually moving.  
  
As soon as they are completely on the boat, and are completely sure they won't just fly off the side, the boat takes off like lightning. The kid can barely hear anything over the loud splashing the boat is making as it cuts through the water.  
  
"We're here," the cloaked figure announces. Already?  
  
Well, there's the snow. The kid thanks the river rider, and disembarks, already knowing just where to go in order to reach Papyrus' house. Er, well, they think they do. They haven't actually been to his house.  
  
The kid stands in the town square, taking in their surroundings as a means of searching for Papyrus' place. There was the Christmas tree Kid ran over to them from, covered in sparkling tinsel and baubles of various sizes, and beyond that, the cliff face, marking the edge of Snowdin, overlooking a massive forest of pine trees. The size of the drop alone was enough to deter them from wanting to get any closer to the edge. Snow crinkles beneath their feet as they idly wiggle their toes.  
   Over here, there's a building that says "Grillby's." They recognize the building from several hours ago. The neon sign was burning brightly then, but is currently dim, so the kid reasons that they're probably not open yet. To their left, there's another building, and, looking up at the sign, it's a library--er, "Librarby...?"  
   Spelling mistake aside, it seems like it'd be a valuable location for your average inquisitive soul, considering the lack of 'librarbies' in other parts of the Underground.

A muffled scream of "NYEEHHH" reaches the kid's ears. Their doggish audio receptors perk up at the alarming rate at which the sound's volume is increasing.  
   They turn to see the first story window, of what you can only assume is Papyrus' house (because who else would be up at this hour), being smashed clean through. Their eyes widen at the sight of a silver pot, currently spewing billowing flames, leaving a pair of gloved hands. They follow it's flight path with their eyes, watching the flame trail behind as the pot soars through the air, landing upside-down in the snow, sending steam up into the air with a loud hissing sound.  
  
With wide eyes, their gaze turns to Papyrus, whose arms are currently draped out the window. He pushes himself up, and looks out at the quietly steaming kitchen disaster. His gaze quickly gravitates over to the kid, and his teeth turn up into a slightly forced grin.  
  
"THERE HAS BEEN A SLIGHT MISHAP," he calls out to them, cupping a hand around his mouth.  
  
\---  
  
"I'M TERRIBLY SORRY ABOUT THE LOSS OF YOUR SPAGHETTI." Papyrus nervously wrings his hands as he welcomes the kid into the home.  
  
"'S alright, Paps. I'm just happy to be here with you." Papyrus breaks out into a happy grin, radiating with joy, but quickly tries to play it cool.  
  
"AS WE ALL ARE! ...NOW THEN!" His cool dude facade falls once more. "LET'S DO FRIEND STUFF! LIKE WATCH SCARY MOVIES! OR, PERHAPS A ROUSING BATTLE OF WITS!"  
  
"Yeah, a movie sounds good, but I don't like scary things." Papyrus wipes away non-existent sweat with an exaggerated exhale.  
  
"I ACTUALLY DON'T MUCH CARE FOR THE HORROR GENRE MYSELF. SO! DODGED THAT BULLET! NYEH HEH HEH!" He promptly strides over to the TV, fishing out a... strange, black rectangle?  
  
"What is that?" They point to the mystery object.  
  
"ONE OF MY FAVORITES," he replies, lightly shaking the rattling object before inserting it into a fat, silver box. Suddenly, the boxy form of Mettaton, playing a distraught damsel in a tower, appears on screen.  
  
"Oh, it's like a DVD player," they mumble as another Mettaton, dressed as a knight, appears. He begins to serenade the other Mettaton in a large establishing shot. The kid smirks at the shoddy splicing job-- the right half of a fake tree is clearly a full inch above the left half.  
At the end of the long-winded sonnet, the camera cuts to knight Mettaton gasping in horror, then quickly pans over to reveal a "terrifying" dragon (also Mettaton). The kid rolls their eyes, and glances over at Papyrus, who currently looks enthralled.  
  
"How long is this movie?"  
  
"I'M NOT SURE. THREE HOURS, MAYBE...?"  
  
The kid takes a deep breath, and returns their attention to the film, hunching forward in their seat. It was going to be a while.  
  
This movie's kind of stupid, but it has it's charm, they think as their eyelids begin to droop.  
  
"HUMAN!"  
  
"Hu-huh, wha--?!"  
  
"YOU MISSED THE ENDING OF ACT ONE!"  
  
"When does that happen?"  
  
"FORTY MINUTES IN!"  
  
"Good grief!" In that case, perhaps Chara should go ahead and notify them of their new plan.  
  
"IN THE TIME THAT YOU SPENT MISSING OUT ON GREATNESS, I DECIDED THAT I SHALL GET ALL MY FRIENDS TO GATHER AT THE BARRIER!" Strange timing.  
  
He whips out his phone to dial a number.  
  
"Hello," a sleepy voice croaks.  
  
"HELLO UNDYNE, THERE IS A HUMAN AT THE BARRIER," he says, adopting an urgent tone of voice.  
  
"Hhhuh, whuh, what?!" Her voice rises in volume and alertness as she forces herself awake.

"...Grrrr, little sneak must've gotten past while I was snoozing!"  
  
"INDEED THEY HAVE! I SHALL SEE YOU THERE!" He hangs up the phone, and reaches over, suddenly lifting and slinging the kid over his shoulder. They squeak in surprise at the skeleton's apparent herculean strength.  
  
"SAAAAAAANS!" He cups a hand around his mouth, shouting up to the second door from the stairs.  
  
"mm, hmph," a muffled voice grunts inquisitively from behind it.  
  
"WE ARE GOING TO THE BARRIER! THERE IS WORK TO BE DONE!"  
  
"ugh, work?" Sans winks up at Papyrus from below his left arm.  
  
"OH, THERE YOU ARE. I SHALL MEET YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE WHEN YOU GET THERE!" With that, he's off. The kid nervously waves at Sans from over Papyrus' shoulder as he carries them towards the door. As soon as he sets foot outside, he takes off at breakneck speed, but the journey is surprisingly comfortable. They yawn, feeling kind of like Pippin, riding... Gandalf's horse...

They fall asleep trying to remember the horse's name.

(During the journey back, Papyrus jumps onto the Riverperson's boat, and poses heroically as the raft speeds over to Hotland.)  
  
He makes a stop at Alphys' lab, shouting for her to meet everybody else at the Barrier from the center of the room.

Papyrus, surprisingly, continues to stand there, waiting for a reaction of some kind. His grip on them becomes a bit jittery, his fingers raising and lowering in a tapping sequence against their back. The kid startles awake, and eventually wriggles in his grasp, trying to get a glimpse of his expression.  
  
After a few moments more, he stammers. "HUMAN, THE LACK OF RESPONSE WE'RE GETTING IS KIND OF PUTTING ME ON EDGE. SURELY, ALPHYS RECEIVED UNDYNE'S MESSAGE, BUT. I HAVE MY SUSPICIONS." He then makes a sound resembling the wetting of a dry mouth, and as the eerie silence draws on, he begins to nervously worry his lower lip. The kid's brow furrows.  
  
"Let's just look for her," they say, gesturing with their free arm.  
  
"YES! YES, GOOD IDEA, HUMAN! UH, I SHALL SET YOU DOWN AND WE SHALL LOOK FOR OUR WORRYINGLY ABSENT COMRADE!" He speaks with more gusto, but his underlying anxiety is still audible. He sets them upon the ground, and unfolds his arms from the grip he had them in. They watch as he immediately begins striding forward, away from them and up the stairs.  
  
In front of them, they can more or less see the entire lab, so it's a couple minutes of devouring the scene with their eyes before they actually start moving. They take in all the details of Alphys' desk, from where the wood is chipped, to the stray dried up noodle, to the stack of stained, empty bowls, to the yellowing of the computer keyboard's plastic. Beyond that, there's a rather out-of-place, half-empty bag of dog food.  
  
"That's strange." They continue past it, stopping in front of the bathroom door. A little blue sign with the silhouette of whatever species of monster Alphys is adorns the wall beside it. They knock on the door, and after a moment of silence, look down, and spot a note.  
  
"Hey. You guys... Your support means a lot to me. But... As difficult as it is to say this... You guys alone can't make my problems magically go away. I want to be a better person. I don't want to be afraid anymore. And for that to happen I have to be able to face my own mistakes. I'm going to start doing that now. I want to be clear. This isn't anyone else's problem but mine. But if you don't ever hear from me again... If you want to know 'the truth.' Enter the door to the north of this note. You all at least deserve to know what I did."  
  
They push at the gap between the door's halves, slightly hurting their fingers. They shimmy closer to try and grip it better, and the doors part electronically. Nice.  
  
"Whuh--?" As it turns out, the bathroom is not a bathroom at all. They recall seeing these very same tiles and panel of buttons in Hotland's elevators. Stepping inside, they see that the amount of buttons that actually lead to somewhere is smaller than expected, or, at the very least, the amount of buttons with labels is.  
  
Two buttons have labels, with one saying 'L1', and the other saying 'B.' They grit their teeth, and press the button corresponding to 'B.' They hear the door shut behind them with a 'shwaw', and soon after, the whirring of motors. They turn around, facing the door, waiting for the moment they reach their destination.  
  
A slippery grinding sound suddenly cuts in with the other sounds, causing the faint whirring to become a quite grating sound, as the motor struggles to resume spinning. Then, their phone starts to ring.  
  
Chara can't make out what the voice on the other end is saying, but the kid's face is a look of confusion-- they don't recognize the voice on the other end... but Chara does. They suddenly feel very wary, pondering whatever sorcery is at work here.  
  
The call ends, and there's an alarmingly loud metallic sound coming from outside. The kid has just enough time to widen their eyes in horror before the elevator immediately goes from static to freefall. They bang their head on the ceiling, getting knocked out cold instantly.

When consciousness returns to them, they're sprawled out on the floor. There's a throbbing in their head, and their thoughts are coming to them scattered and slower than usual. That's okay, they can deal with feeling a bit slow.  
  
They look up to see that the elevator is dead. A cloud of cold, moist air wafts against their back. Awkwardly climbing to their feet, they stumble over to the open door, and begin to walk down the hall. Tiles of a faded seaweed green make up the floor of this new area.  
   They come towhat looks just like an infirmary of some kind. The resemblance immediately puts them on edge-- their fear of hospitals stems from the possibility of 'potent lycanthropy' being among the list of things discovered by the doctor. They know about doctor-patient confidentiality, but that they could still end up in the medical books in spite of that was a possibility that always loomed over their head during check-ups, which some of their previous caretakers had dragged them to get.  
  
Hands tightly clasped together, they warily approach what looks to be another door.  
  
"Oh." Looks like the door needs a key. No, four keys. Red, yellow, green, and blue. "Uno," they mumble to no one in particular. They look to their left, something catching their eyes from the end of an eerie hallway, and decide to look for the Uno keys there first. ...Well, cuatro keys, technically.  
  
They roll their eyes at their own 'joke.'  
  
\---  
  
Some kind of examination room awaits them. Three large grey chairs are leaned back, pointing up at the ceiling. Further on, there are three sinks. Out of curiosity, they reach to turn the faucets on. Squeak. Squeak.  
  
The sound of water running reaches their ears as they shimmy over to turn on the last sink.  
  
Squeak.  
  
A strange white blob sags out of the faucet and into the sink. The kid frowns in both disgust and confusion. However, their expression quickly changes to horror as the white, viscous pudding expands, forming faces, each displaying a different emotion. The kid falls on their rear, sending a dull, stabbing pain up their pelvis. The shifting, pulsating white blob populated by gloopy faces quickly sends them scurrying backwards, scraping against the floor with their hands and feet to try and back away from this unknown creature.  
  
"Come join the fun," they hear, coming from a thousand different voices, surrounding them like a mob, the kind they expected to form should they ever be found out by the masses. That, coupled with the cryptic, creepy-as-hell message that promoted everything they absolutely did not want right now, is exactly what they needed to sputter out a panicked "n-no!"  
  
It was quiet, and lacked conviction, and during the seconds that follow, they begin to regret giving such a straightforward answer.  
  
Unexpectedly, the reply was not immediate death. "What a shame." With that, the eldritch horror dissipates into thin air, somehow. After catching their breath and waiting for their heart to stop pounding, the kid climbs to their feet, and nervously peers into the sink. They shakily grasp and pull out a sparkling red key, sigh in relief, and begin to make their way out of the room.  
  
\---  
  
After they'd gotten back to the main room, they placed the red key into it's slot on the door, just in case they later got in a position where they could otherwise lose it, and then turned into the other side of the room, thinking this side of the lab could prove more fruitful.  
  
They're currently regretting this decision, as a white... thing, featureless and exceedingly lank, looms over them, it's ethereal limb drifting closer and closer to them. They just wanted to take a nap, and now this spook comes here to end them. They're afraid of moving, but if they don't move, they're gonna die! What should they do?

They make a grunt of surprise when the apparition draws the bed's blanket over them. They give it a few more seconds to stab them to death before sitting up and wondering what the hell just happened. They quickly climb out of the bed after that, having every intention to skedaddle, but get the idea to pull back the covers on all the other beds, the ones that weren't immediately jump-into-bed-able like their bed had been, with it's inviting sheets, and deceptively fluffy pillow. Their angry sheet tossing eventually leads to some progress-- the yellow key!  
  
"Phew! Let's get outta here." Chara draws an arm across their forehead, while the kid turns away from them, bringing a hand to their chin.  
  
"There are two doors. Which one do we go through?" The kid asks. Chara's eyes flick back and forth between the two doorways.  
  
"Left one first," they say, finally.  
  
The room they duck into is a creepy, dimly lit hall with a shower at the end of it. Something's behind the curtain, and the closer they get, the faster the body jerks around, jostling and convulsing behind the curtain, faster, and faster. Their sense of curiosity gets the better of them, and they rip back the curtain... to find a key, glinting in the light from outside whenever the kid's shadow isn't looming over it.  
  
Key in hand, they exit back into the hall, and move on to what may be another key location (they chuckle at their pun in spite of the situation).  
  
\---  
  
Intriguing. There's a huge TV in the center of the room. It's sitting atop a wooden cabinet, and a few of those black rectangles like Alphys had upstairs are strewn about. They pick up one, labelled "Tape 04" (what, this thing doesn't look anything like tape), and search for the player.  
  
They manage to find and push open the tape slot, fumbling with the rectangle as they attempt to put it in. They succeed, and immediately after, a slightly muffled voice can be heard.  
  
_"I… I don’t like this idea, Chara."_ Chara's eyes go wide as saucers.  
  
"Turn it off," they demand sharply from behind the kid. They're on the floor, chin in their hands.  
  
_"Wh… what? N-no, I’m not…_  
  
_"… big kids don’t cry,"_ the voice says.  
  
"Turn it off, kid!" Chara's voice is a bit shakier. Their eyes are stinging.  
  
_*Yeah, you’re right._  
  
_*No!_  
  
_*I’d never doubt you, Chara…_  
  
"Stop it! Turn it off, now," they shout, tears beginning to streak down their burning cheeks. The kid is flinging their head back and forth between their friend and the TV. They feel horrible for it, but they want to see why their friend is so worked up over some crusty old video rectangles.  
  
_*Never!_  
  
_*Y… yeah!_  
  
"Turn it off, please! I don't...!" They choke on a sob. The kid's resolve wavers.  
  
_*We’ll be strong!_  
  
"Stop it! Stop it, you idiot!" Their voice is full of anguish.  
  
_*We’ll free everyone._  
  
Chara's attempts at getting them to stop has devolved to beating their back with their fists. They can barely feel it with their overall larger stature, but it still makes their heart ache.  
  
_*I’ll go get the flowers._  
  
The tape ends with a click. The kid immediately swivels around and pulls Chara to them.  
  
"Why?!" Chara sobs into their chest. They pull back to look them in the eyes. Their eyes are bloodshot, tears still leaking down their face.  
  
"Do you really hate me that much?" Chara gulps, struggling to keep their voice even remotely level. The kid hugs them tighter, beginning to weep themself. Stupid sympathy.  
  
"I'm sorry," they rasp. "I wuh-wanted to know why you were getting upset, and I, I, I... I'm a bad person," they cry. Chara takes pity on the younger child, even though they personally wanted to kill them for making them relive that, hearing him saying those damning words again.  
  
"I hate you," Chara whines, digging their hands into the kid's sweater and pressing their face into their chest.  
  
The two later emerge from the room emotional wrecks, disheveled and flushed.  
  
\---

This next room looks like some kind of mess hall, for the patients, they guess. There's a bunch of fridges, sparsely lined up in a row along the wall. Perhaps a midnight snack will calm their nerves.  
  
"Look, kid. I'm sorry for beating you up. However, you shouldn't have done that!" Their voice wavers a little at the end.  
  
The kid nods sadly, feeling like the scum of the earth. Chara continues, taking in a shaky breath. "I... guess I should tell you that I am Chara."  
  
The kid looks at them, scandalized. It's made funnier by the fact that they're holding a fridge door open.  
  
"That other voice... was my best friend... Asriel. We loved each other, but, because I was a stupid, stupid, suicidal fool, we both got killed. By humans," they spit.  
  
"We're all horrible, making each other suffer like this." Chara rubs their arms, dropping their gaze to the floor. The kid is now moving to the fourth fridge, with Chara idly floating after.  
  
"...Even if I hate you right now, I have no doubt that you'll free everybody. And... I'll still help you see it through, but for now, I need to resolve some internal conflict."  
  
The kid opens the final fridge, and out of it comes a melting bird creature with faces for eyes.  
  
"S..now...y..."  
  
\---  
  
Two more keys and several eldritch horrors later, the kid finally has the main door open. It's an elevator.  
  
They ride it to the bottom, and exit, passing through a hall and timidly peeking around the corner. There it is. The generator. They dash over and flip it on. It starts making a lot of noise, attracting all of the white, amorphous creatures encountered so far. They close in, looking to eat the pup whole, when the lights come on.  
  
"Ack! G-get away from them!" Alphys dashes in, screeching to a halt. The creatures turn around in one synchronous, fluid motion, which disturbs the kid.  
  
Alphys is undeterred. "I b-brought you guys breakfast! It's upstairs, g-go get it!"  
  
The creatures fade away, leaving the two alone.  
  
"I'm sorry about that. Th-they get... c-c-confrontational when they're hungry." She looks at her feet. "Those guys represent all of my failings as a scientist. Their bodies couldn't handle determination, and they... melted, together, and... turned into those. They're still themselves, I g-guess, but they're kinda... unstable."  
  
The kid blinks. "Can we please get out of here, now?!"  
  
"Th-the elevator's working again, you can go ahead and leave." She smiles a little. "I've got a bit more to do, still."  
  
They grin right back at her, and give her a quick hug before racing for the elevator.  
  
\---  
  
They see Papyrus upon exiting the elevator to Alphys' main lab. He quickly scoops them up, and they giggle to see how relieved he looks.  
  
"HUMAN, THERE YOU ARE! I'VE BEEN UP HERE, WORRIED TO THE BONE! I DO HOPE YOU ARE ALRIGHT!"  
  
"I am now! Let's get back to it!"  
  
"NYEH HEH, I LIKE YOUR ENTHUSIASM! OFF WE GO!"  
  
He drapes them over his shoulder again. They turn their head away from Papyrus' face, meeting Chara's gaze as Papyrus takes off. They still have a few things to talk over, but they're pretty sure they'll work it out.

\---  
  
Papyrus strides over to the L3 elevator, waits patiently inside for a bit as it ascends, exits the elevator, pedals through the MTT hotel lobby, flies through the Core's newly cemented layout, and before they know it, they're back in Asgore's garden.  
  
He sets them down gently, and pats them on the head.  
  
"NOW TO HEAD INSIDE, AND DO BARRIER THINGS," he says, confidently.  
  
They give him a slightly confused look, but don't find any particular reason to make an objection, so they simply follow after him with a shrug.  
  
The barrier is still just as ethereal as ever. It looks like it goes on forever and ever, but they know that barriers usually are walls, so it stands to reason that it does not go on forever (and ever), they think, groggily.  
  
"HELLO KING ASGORE!" At the sound of the new voice, the king turns around in surprise.  
  
"Hello, citizen, and, ah, human," he says, looking behind Papyrus' shoulder to see the kid, hiding their head bashfully.  
  
"DO NOT BE AFRAID, MY FRIEND! THIS IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE, GRUMPY KING! THIS IS THE GREAT PAPYRUS' KING, AND YOU KNOW I ONLY SWEAR ALLEGIANCE TO THE BEST IN THE BIZ." The kid giggles at his use of lingo, and nods at him with a big grin on their face.  
  
"Hold it right there, punk!!" Suddenly, they feel something sharp prodding their back. They raise their hands above their head, and slowly turn around to see a very tired looking, very angry blue lady. She had literal red hair, tied up in a hastily made ponytail, and was wearing a black tank top with pink pajama pants that had photorealistic cat heads plastered all across them. They want to point them out, but right now, there's a bright cyan spear inches from their stomach, and they really don't want to die again.  
  
"Thought you could sneak past me while the Underground sleeps, eh, human?" She narrows her eyes at 'human'. "Not on my watch!" She lightly pokes them to make her point. ...The kid is too frightened to properly enjoy the pun.

"N-NOW, UNDYNE, LET'S NOT BE TOO HASTY." His eyes flick to the spear. "OR STABBY."  
  
"THIS IS MY FRIEND! THEY'RE COOL. THEY EVEN WENT OUT OF THEIR WAY TO TRY MY SPECIAL BREAKFAST SPAGHETTI! ...UNFORTUNATELY, IT BURST INTO FLAMES, BUT! THERE'S NO USE CRYING OVER SPILLED SPAGHETTI! SO, UH, LET'S... PUT THE SPEAR AWAY, AND..." He slowly reaches over, lightly directing the weapon away from the kid's abdomen. The alterations in pressure catch Undyne's attention, though, and she rights the spear's trajectory.  
  
She eyes the kid up and down, wary of their every move, taking in every detail. "Pap, are you forgetting that this is the species who... that... wait." She lowers the spear, stares them down for a moment, and promptly puts her head in her free hand, massaging her eye with her thumb. "I must be really damn tired, because _that_ ," she dismisses the spear and points at them for emphasis, "does not look like a human upon closer inspection."  
  
A nasally voice calls out, having seen enough to know what's going on. "Nobody f-fight each other!"  
  
"yeah, the barrier's already doin' plenty of rumbling," a soft-spoken baritone trails behind.  
  
The kid turns their head, to find a certain skeleton and a little lizard approaching from the doorway.  
  
The kid's voice is audibly happy when they say "Alphys!" This confuses and aggravates Undyne's sense of being able to tell whose butt needs kicking. Alphys trots on over, meeting them in a hug, which confuses her even further. "I'm so glad to see you," they say.  
  
"undyne." Sans fakes the glee in his voice, but nonetheless slowly shuffles on over to the fish in question. Suddenly, he stops, and closes his eyes for dramatic effect. Suddenly, his eyes shoot open, looking somewhat serious. Slowly, though, his grin widens.

"i'm so glad to sea you," he parrots, leaning into a broad wink. His joke is met with grumbles of disdain from multiple parties, which only serves as fuel for his smile. Ignoring the pun to the best of her ability, Undyne turns her attention to Alphys.  
  
"Ignoring him," she mumbles. Don't tell me-- you're both friends with the human, too?"  
  
"H-human?" Her gaze moves from Undyne to her friend's face. She sees their scared eyes, that look of silent panic and expectation, just waiting for the inevitable backlash. It reminds her a lot of herself. She wants to reassure them, remembering the time spent together that night. The testing of cell phone features, pontificating via text message, the sleepover...  
  
"Yes, I am." The human barks a laugh out of surprise, and hugs her harder. Alphys finds a smile work it's way onto her face.

"Hello?" Another new voice adds to the increasing amount of noise. This one carries more weight to it, and draws the attention of everyone in the room.  
  
"Mama!" They let go of Alphys, and climb to their feet. There was Toriel, standing in the doorway. They run over to her, accepting her warm embrace.  
  
"Hello, my child. Have you been doing good," she asks, stroking their hair. They assume she means 'good' in the literal sense.  
  
"Yes, and I made a buncha friends. Most of them are gathered over there by Da--uh, Asgore," they say, pointing a thumb back at the group.  
  
"Papyrus gathered us all here at the barrier, said there was a human about to fight Asgore. I think that that kid is the human, or maybe not, I dunno, I'm really tired." Undyne rambles, leaning on Asgore's shoulder for support. Over by Papyrus, Alphys' expression changes to something inquisitive. She looks up at him.  
  
"Speaking of which. Papyrus, how did you know what would get everyone to gather here?"  
  
"WELL, LET'S JUST SAY A TINY FLOWER TOLD ME," he replies with a wink.  
  
"A tiny f-flower?!" She looks shaken now. Was that the wrong answer?  
  
"You idiots!" Oh, here he comes now.  
  
Suddenly, thorny vines wrap around everyone, lifting them into the air! An unfortunate predicament. The human looks somewhat distraught at this new development.  
  
Papyrus can't quite make out what's being said, as he is currently focused on these vines, busy sapping his strength. He does hear Lady Asgore's reassurance from nearby him, though, loud and clear. That's right! There isn't a vine in the world that can steal his limitless vigor! Take this, offending pellets. You shall not touch the child!  
Oh, and it seems everyone's joining in! There's Snowdrake! And Vulkin! And Me-me-me-Mettaton! He doesn't remember calling them here, but that's fine!  
  
"Oh no, how could this happen? The power of friendship is too much for me~," the flower whines. Yea, verily! Give a hurrah!  
  
"Just kidding. I already have the six human souls. All you've done is bring me more power. You're all so stupid!" That doesn't sound goo--  
  
...

"I MUST CAPTURE A HUMAN!" It's the only way to get in the Royal Guard! The only way!

What's this? They say they ate the spaghetti? But left some to share?!

"HOW THOUGHTFUL! ...UH. B-BUT FLATTERY WILL GET YOU NOWHERE!"

He sends out some well-placed bone attacks. This ought to wear them down, make it easier to capture them!

Was that a pun? Did that human make his brother laugh with a pun? Wait a minute, he remembers a thoughtful human with a bad sense of humor!

"I BELIEVE IN YOU!"

\---

Alphys is useless, really. She can't even fess up. What a coward. Useless.

Don't worry about her. "I'm not worth it." She's not as good a person as people seem to think she is. What good person tries to electrify people, anyway?

"Heh heh..." That post was pretty funny.

Wait a minute... this person! Her friend, the human! Her newest recruit for the meme squad! Just call them...

" _John Cena!!_ "

\---

Undyne has a duty to the whole kingdom to keep. To keep everyone safe from the likes of this conniving punk!

"Kid? How do you know them? What did you do?" Don't tell her this human's got people _falling_ for this goodie two-shoes schlock!

Eat spears! Taste the justice as it impales your taste buds!

"Even if you wanted to try his spaghetti like you claim, I bet you're just trying to get on his good side, so you can catch him with his guard down!" Not if the captain of the Royal Guard has anything to say about it! 

"Undyne!" Wait, what the?!

"Alphys? What are you doing?! The human's this close to scorching us both with their fire breath!" They're closing in! Wait, Alphys! She never got to tell her!

"What? No! They s-s-sent me over here to talk to you! I know y-you're kinda inconsolable right n-n-now, but they wanted me to snap you out of it! ...o _h man this is just like when Mew Mew breaks the spell over Balthazord...!_ U-uh, I, I l-l-li... oh, hell!" Huh--

WOAH, WHAT THE AYCH?! IS THIS HAPPENING?! DID...

...Did this kid seriously set her up for a smooch with her dream girl?

"Man. You're a real Casanova, aren'tcha, kid?"

\---

"Wh--... What did you do?!" Asriel looks angry, scared and confused.

_There's only one more to save, kid._

...

There's nothing but darkness. Darkness, and a goat.

"I get it now. You're not Chara. Chara's been gone for a long time." Asriel pauses, a somber expression on his face. "...What is your name?"

...

"Chara... wasn't the greatest person. To be honest, you're the kind of friend I always wanted, Frisk." Frisk looks down at him fondly.

...

They clutch at their chest. Squeezing their eyes shut, they begin to make choked noises, shallow, loud gasps, trying to take in air, but their ribs keep poking them.

"Frisk! What's wrong?!" They choke on their answer, and their legs quickly give way. Asriel catches them and holds them up. He can feel their extremely prominent chest collapsing inward, bringing them closer to the goat. Tears start to stream from their eyes. Asriel follows their gaze to see their dog feet crunching inward, popping and cracking as they change from a bent angle to a straight line.

He shouts to them, beginning to tear up himself. "Frisk! It's gonna be okay! It's gonna be okay!" Throughout his attempts to reassure them, they would occasionally stop sobbing, only to open their mouth wider, making a pained cry of anguish. They hold him tighter as their legs continue to shrink, screeching as their tail starts to recede, stabbing up into their spine like a thin katana. Their hands start to shrink, too, giving less hold on Asriel, which only exacerbates the panic in their wailing.

"It's okay, Frisk! I'm here! I'm here! I won't leave you," he sobs, gazing up into their eyes, getting ever closer to being level with his. They continue to wail, and Asriel watches as their body starts compressing in spurts. It feels like their spine is being crushed at either end, trying to squeeze it together, and it's searing their entire torso. It makes their arms and legs crunching inward feel like growing pains in comparison.

They cry out for their best friend. "Asriel...!" Their breath hitches, and soon, a series of small, pained noises escapes their mouth, as it begins to collapse, and they continue to shrink. They squeeze their eyes shut, and press their face into the crook of Asriel's neck. Their head gets closer and closer to him, and he can hear their jaws crushing back into their face, snapping and crackling, feel their nose leave his skin as it detaches from the rest of their muzzle to rejoin the middle of their face. He realizes he doesn't have to hold them up anymore, they've gotten so small, and moves his arms to wrap around the child, holding them close as the last of the popping sounds are heard.

Their breathing is incredibly labored, each breath a deep one until they get used to having tiny lungs again. "It's okay, you're okay, it's over," he coos in their ear. They press their face into Asriel's neck again, surprising him with their nose's new, fleshy texture and lack of fur on their face. With a pained grunt, they move their arms back up to wrap around his neck. They feel terrible. Even their face is sore, as their body tries to come to terms with what just happened.

"My bones ache, everything is sore, and suddenly not having my tail is really jarring. I... I really want to sleep, now," they say, wrapping their arms tighter around him. "Please stay with me," they mumble breathily into his ear, already beginning to doze. Asriel blushes at their tone of voice, but concedes, slowly lowering the both of them to the ground. Frisk quietly groans, all too happy to soothe their angry muscles.

After a moment, the larger boy speaks up. "Frisk?" They snuggle up to him, feeling his muffled voice resonate through his chest.

"Hmm?" They lazily feel around, grabbing and pulling his arm, draping it over their back like a makeshift blanket.

"I can't believe you can change into a monster." Frisk turns their head over, leading it to rest in the crook of his arm. They hum, smiling into Asriel's ribs. "Your body's really cool," he says, voice full of childish wonder.

They giggle sleepily, and wiggle their right arm out from between the two, reaching over to hug him closer.

"This is totally going in my collection of 'happy place' memories," they mumble.

After a few minutes of silence, they speak up again. "Asriel?"

"Yeah?"

They adopt a sadder tone. "I don't want you to go."

Asriel shifts his arm to begin stroking their hair.

"I know."

...

...

"yo, paps. wake up, bud," says a muffled, low, faraway, ethereal... _lazy_ voice.

Papyrus sits up, rubbing his eyes. When did he pass out? This unprecedented nap was not given his approval! What did Flowery do with the human souls? Why is Sans awake for once in his life? There are too many questions that need asking!  
  
"WHAT HAPPENED?" He compresses them into one all-encompassing question.  
  
"nobody knows, really, but the barrier's gone. right now, the queen's busy tryin' to wake the kid up." He points a thumb back at the group, and, following the direction, Papyrus can see the rest of the group surrounding a tiny figure. Who is this small person?  
  
Papyrus marches over, crouching down to get a better look. A small, fleshy child with skin the color of slightly-dirty sand, a messy bob cut, and a blue-and-pink sweater is sleeping there.  
   The queen is holding their hand in both of her own, lightly tapping it, trying to wake them up. She's clearly getting quite upset over this lazybones' extended napping period. Step aside, Lady Asgore, let an old pro show you how it's done.  
  
"WAKE UP, SMALL CHILD! WE ARE ALL WAITING FOR YOU!" Now, we wait.  
  
The child gasps, and grabs onto the nearest object (the queen's sleeve) tightly.  
  
"welcome back to the world of the living."  
  
Sans nudges Papyrus, slightly startling the latter. "well, mostly living, anyway."  
  
Papyrus groans; you could just hear the grin in his voice.  
  
"TERRIBLE." It forces a weak laugh out of the child, though, so who is Papyrus to complain?  
  
The queen helps the barefooted child to their feet. They actually kind of remind Papyrus of someone, he thinks as they approach the cave's exit. Oh! How could he forget?  
  
"SMALL CHILD, HAVE YOU SEEN A HUMAN AROUND HERE? THEY'RE ABOUT YAY TALL," he says, holding a hand up to his shoulder. "POSITIVELY COVERED IN HAIR. ALL WOLFY...?" The child giggles, then speaks to him.  
  
"Yeah, I've seen them around." Wait just a moment! That voice! The familiar familiarity! It can only be...!  
  
"WHUUUUHHHH?!" They laugh even more at his reaction.

"careful, paps. the queen might catch ya makin' _googly_ eyes at her kid." Sans' awful joke brings him back to reality. "also, we're here."  
  
Papyrus turns around, and is met with the most gorgeous sight. A bright orange ball is slowly ascending on the horizon (that would explain the orange tint to everything)! There are trees everywhere! And tall buildings!  
  
"Isn't it beautiful, everyone," Asgore rumbles. Papyrus silently nods, still slackjawed at the sight. He stirs when he senses Sans walk up next to him.  
  
"SANS, WHAT IS THAT GLORIOUS ORANGE SPHERE? I COULD STARE INTO IT ALL DAY."  
  
"we call that the sun, my friend."  
  
"WOWIE, I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FINALLY MEETING THE SUN!"  
  
Asgore laughs good-naturedly, then turns to face the kid. Sans' and Papyrus' banter continues on in the background, but their focus lies on the king.  
  
"Child, I have a request to ask of you. You've already done so much for our kind that you shouldn't feel obligated, but... would you like to be the ambassador between humans and monsters?"  
  
Frisk goes wide-eyed, and breathes a little faster as they think of the implications. They don't notice the others leaving the cliffside, to begin climbing down the mountain. Toriel must have  sensed their tension; she squeezes their shoulder in reassurance.  
  
"It is alright, my child. Like Asgore says, the decision is yours to make." This calms them down a little bit, and they look from her face back to meet Asgore's gaze.  
  
"Uh... y-yeah. Yes. I...th-think I can handle that." Their focus keeps switching between Asgore's expectant look and Toriel's loving, patient gaze.  
  
"Well, it's more a question of if you _want_ t--," he starts.  
  
"I want to," they cut him off.

"Then it's decided. I shall see you both at the bottom."  
  
Frisk looks out unto the valley once more-- the sun has risen a little bit higher in the sky. They feel like some quiet classical piece is needed here.  
  
"Clair de Lune," Chara offers, then immediately chuckles, realizing the irony of their choice as they watch the sun.  
  
Nah, s'alright, it...'s strangely fitting.  
  
"My child," Toriel starts. They hum in acknowledgement, to let her know they're listening. "What will you do now? I am aware that your condition will likely keep some humans away, but with monsters on the surface, perhaps things will be better for you, now?" They think that Toriel's argument is a bit flimsy, and definitely not whole-hearted.  
  
"You must know that, no matter what happens, you shall always be welcome with us. If you ever run into trouble, just say the word, and..." She chuckles, and sniffs. "...and 'Mama' will come running." Her words are only slightly shaky, but it's enough. Frisk's lip quivers.

They're a sympathy crier, they know this for a fact. If someone's crying, that makes them want to cry, too. However, this...this is something in a whole new ballpark. Toriel doesn't want them to leave, unlike the rest. She'll come for them, unlike the rest.  
  
They start shaking, trying to control their breath, which is quickly falling in step with Toriel's labored breathing. She's desperately trying to keep it together in a situation where yet another child might be leaving her. They're cared about. She doesn't want them to go. She doesn't want them to leave.  
  
"M-m-muh..." Their twitching lip makes them stutter as they try to maintain their composure.  
  
They whirl around, grasping at Toriel's robes, holding them tightly.  
  
F%$k it. "Mamaaaa...!" Their cries are muffled by her robe, which they're gripping tightly, and they're getting them wet and gross, but they don't care, they don't care.  
  
Toriel chokes a happy sob, and crouches down, returning the gesture. She swaddles them in her large, strong, soft arms, holding them close. They're so small next to her, now that the dawn's finally caught up with them-- like a baby. For the first time in quite a while, they're being held in a warm blanket of bittersweet, nostalgic, happy, loving emotions, here in their mother's arms.

...  
  
After a while, everyone has regained their composure. Frisk opens with "I want to stay with you."  
  
"I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to hear that," comes the reply.

Frisk checks to see that Toriel isn't looking, and surreptitiously wiggle their left hand into Chara's right hand, weaving their fingers together. Chara chokes a laugh, and slowly leans down, resting their head on top of Frisk's own.  
  
"Thanks, kid." They sniff once, then deeply exhale. Satisfied with this outcome, Frisk turns back to see Asgore, a small speck on the mountain path.

They reach up to take Toriel's left hand, which dwarfs the size of their right hand. With Toriel's hand in their right, and Chara's in their left, they finally begin to descend the mountain, slowly catching up to their group of fellow monsters. They're among their own kind now, but they've come to realize that this is far from a bad thing.  
  
Today's a new day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like changing up the part where Flowey shows up, because that part of the ending is boring, due to the changes in the story that happened as a result of the way it's set up. I also thought it'd be neat to show Papyrus' perspective of the events as they unfold, because Papyrus makes everything more interesting.
> 
> These are a couple of the things I did to make this chapter less boring. I say this because the setup to the pacifist ending is running back and forth between places we've seen already.
> 
> This chapter being a pain to write at certain points is precisely the reason why it took so long to come. It took a near-panic attack (caused by guilt) for me to finally get off my arse and finish writing this. I know I shouldn't feel obligated to upload stuff, but, really, it's no one's fault but my own that 13 took so long, because I kept putting it off, so I guess this chapter being longer than usual is a way to make up for that...?  
> But, anyways, yeah; pretty much everything after Toriel shows up is what I wrote today, on my medication. Everything before that (not counting proofreading) was written over the course of the last week.


End file.
